By Bill Hardesty | [email protected]

On Feb. 5, Juana Beatriz “Betty” Segura and her two girls held a press conference in front of their damaged apartment.

While the family of six was eating food and Jennifer, a fourth grade student at Lincoln Elementary, was working on her Chrome book, a car crashed through their basement apartment on Jan. 22. The car hit with such an impact that it sailed through their apartment, crashing through the front door, and came to rest in the apartment breezeway in the Covewood Apartments.

“We were having dinner at the table when we saw this car come through the window,” Segura said. “It hit the table and our couch. Jennifer and the baby were pinned under it.”

Segura’s husband quickly got Jennifer and the baby away from the car. Jennifer’s older sister, Citlalli (14), pulled across the street because of a possible gas leak. 

“Miraculously, the vehicle narrowly missed the baby itself,” South Salt Lake Police Chief Jack Carruth said at the time.

Jennifer fared the worst with leg, neck, and head injuries. She still must wear a rigid neck collar for another two weeks.

“I am feeling better now. When it happened, I thought it was a dream,” Jennifer said.

A family in need

“We are still trying to process what happened. We have a new apartment, but all our belongings are still in the damaged apartment. We are not allowed to enter,” Segura said.

This situation means the family is sleeping on the floor on two air mattresses they could purchase. They sit on the floor to eat. A friend at Segura’s work provided some clothing for the family.

“When it comes to the apartment, they aren’t doing much. The management gave us an apartment, but they are still charging us rent,” Segura said, “They don’t understand that I had to pay for a hotel for a week where I went after the accident.”

Segura mentioned they still need to buy food and other necessaries. Since the tragedy, they are also behind on utilities.

“My employer has helped me,” Segura said. “They have been very nice to me. They helped me set up a GoFundMe account. They also give time off work whenever I needed to and told me I can have more days as long as Jennifer needs help. They have been wonderful.”

Segura works at Hunter Douglas in Salt Lake City. 

At this point, there is no time frame when the family can get into their old apartment. There is structural damage making it unsafe. 

 J. Daniel Hernandez, SSLPD Victim Advocate, is helping the family.

To help, donate to their GoFundMe page (https://gofund.me/a2997ec5) under the name Juana Segura. Currently, they have $1,210 of their $5,000 goal.