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Teen's passion for photography fueled her life
By AARON SHAROCKMAN, Times Staff Writer
Published August 22, 2007
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Kayla Alexander was killed while crossing 38th Avenue N on her way to Tyrone Square Mall with a friend. This is a self-potrait and Kayla's favorite photo.
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[Handout]
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ST. PETERSBURG - Kayla Alexander, an Indie-rocking second-degree brown belt who would have skipped the eighth grade altogether if it was up to her, would have wanted this image next to her story. There she is, staring toward the sky, with a yellow flower in her right hand. Her older sister, Krystal Alexander, says if you look close enough, her right pupil looks like it has a heart inside. Kayla, a 13-year-old who wanted to be a photographer, took the picture herself with a camera from her first cell phone about 10 months ago. On Monday Kayla died at All Children's Hospital, two days after she was hit by a truck while she walked across 38th Avenue N at 71st Street. She would have started the eighth grade at Tyrone Middle School on Tuesday. Kayla was headed to the Tyrone Square Mall with her best friend when they both were hit about 8 p.m. on Saturday. They crossed the busy intersection in the path of an oncoming Toyota pickup, according to police, who are investigating the accident. Kayla was thrown to the pavement. Her friend, Sabrina Walsh, suffered minor injuries and was released from the hospital. A teenager who loved the Texas rock group Flyleaf and Canadian Indie-rockers Paramour, Kayla also got a thrill teaching her 18-month-old brother, Thomas Jenkins, how to dance. She also had a 3-year-old sister, Annabelle Alexander. But Kayla may have loved the camera, and self-portraits, most of all, her mother said. "She'd do anything for you," Erica Jenkins said. The funeral service will be at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Church of the Brethren, 3651 71st Street N, a block from where Kayla was hit. Aaron Sharockman can be reached at 727 892-2273 or asharockman@sptimes.com
[Last modified August 22, 2007, 00:23:18]
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