‘I just say value life’: Family reflects on mother of 10 killed by reckless driver

By A.J. Bayatpour

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    MILWAUKEE (WDJT) — Thanksgiving won’t have the same vibrant feel for one Milwaukee family after their loved one was killed by a reckless driver Monday night.

Relatives of Shelley Green packed into their matriarch’s house Wednesday. The home near the intersection of N. 33rd St. and W. Vliet St. often hosts holiday gatherings, but her siblings said Thursday’s Thanksgiving celebration will be much more somber after Green, 44, was killed while driving home from the house Monday.

“It’s many words I wish I could’ve told my sister, but I never thought this would be the last moment to talk to my sister,” Antyon Hamilton, one of Green’s older brothers said Wednesday. “I just say value life, hug your loved ones, forgive and move on.”

Green was the second-youngest of nine siblings, and she was the mother of 10 children. Hamilton said her youngest is a three-year-old. Green also had 10 grandchildren.

According to a Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s report, Green was driving north on N. 35th St. when a driver speeding west on W. Brown St. crashed into Green’s car. The impact sent Green’s car into the southbound lane, where she was hit by another driver.

Green was pronounced dead at the scene. The scene of the crash was only half a mile from her mother’s house, where she had stopped by Monday.

Another one of the Green’s older brothers, Demarco Hamilton, said he got a call from one of his other sisters telling him Green had died in a crash. Hamilton said he stopped at the scene on the way to his mother’s house.

“And I found her shoes. I found her bracelet,” Hamilton said. “I found her keychain and her coat out there.”

Multiple piles of debris were still present at the intersection Wednesday. A Milwaukee police spokesperson said Wednesday investigators were still looking for the driver who caused the crash, who they identified as a 23-year-old.

MPD’s initial release said the driver of the third car involved was seriously hurt, but the police spokesman said Wednesday that person is expected to survive their injuries.

Green’s family said their understanding was the driver was initially hospitalized after the crash, too. However, they said the suspect was able to leave the hospital without being taken into custody.

Antyon Hamilton said he wasn’t concerned about the suspect at-large, at least not at the moment.

“I’m really stuck on more to my sister versus the reality because it’s not gonna bring her back,” he said. “That’s something [the driver will] have to deal with God about, and I’m OK with that. My biggest thing is my sister’s not here no more.”

Both Anyton and Demarco Hamilton said their sister was not always the easiest person to deal with because she was always very blunt.

“She’s gonna tell you if something’s right or wrong. She’s gonna let you know on the spot,” Demarco said. “She don’t care whose kids it is, she don’t care whose family it is. She’s gonna say what’s on her mind, and that’s what we’re gonna miss.”

Antyon said he agreed his sister’s straight-shooting nature will especially be missed.

“She could be mean as hell to me right now,” he said. “And I wouldn’t even mind.”

In that spirit, Antyon Hamilton said he wanted others to be grateful for their time with loved ones Thursday.

“Man, get them close, hug them close. Let them know it’s nothing wrong,” he said. “Just tell them you love them ’cause tomorrow’s not promised.”

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