Grandma’s final photo of granddaughter minutes before she’s killed

A grieving mother has come forward to share a haunting photograph that captures the final moments of her three-year-old daughter’s life, a poignant image captured just seconds before a senseless tragedy unfolded. The heartbreak began on October 7, 2022, in the quiet rural setting of Oldtown, Idaho. Scarlett Jensen and her two-year-old brother, Henry, were under the care of their grandmother while their parents, Samantha and her husband, were away attending a wedding. It was a routine afternoon that shattered in an instant. As the grandmother walked with the children along the family’s private driveway, a Chevrolet Tahoe reportedly careened toward them at high speed. Despite the grandmother’s desperate attempts to intervene, the vehicle struck all three. “My mother was waving her hands, screaming for him to stop, and she tried to grab my children to move them out of the way, but he was going too fast,” Samantha Jensen recalled. The impact was catastrophic. Scarlett was killed almost instantly. Her grandmother and younger brother were left fighting for their lives as the driver of the SUV fled the scene on foot. The suspect was apprehended several miles away and is currently serving a ten-year prison sentence.

A Miracle and a Loss

While the family faced the impossible task of burying a child, they also faced a grueling medical battle for the survivors.

“Henry was life-flighted to the children’s hospital where they found a fractured spine, six broken ribs, a broken jaw, a broken collarbone, a liver laceration, and several other injuries,” Samantha told PEOPLE.

The toddler’s recovery was nothing short of a marathon; he spent a week in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and wore a full-body brace for ten weeks following his release. The grandmother, though suffering from numerous broken bones, was eventually stabilized and discharged.

The Discovery of the Final Frame

The photograph that has now become a sacred heirloom for the family was nearly lost forever. The grandmother’s phone had been flung into the brush during the collision, and it took the family weeks to recover the device. When Samantha finally powered it on, she discovered an image that stopped her breath.

The timestamp revealed the photo was taken just five minutes before Scarlett’s official time of death—likely mere seconds before the vehicle appeared.

The grandmother had taken the children out for ice cream that afternoon. Upon returning home, Scarlett had asked to get out of her stroller to pick flowers in the driveway. It was in that moment of toddler whimsy that her “Meemaw” snapped the final photo.

The Long Road to Healing

Two years after the tragedy, Samantha describes a life fundamentally altered by grief. The pain, she says, arrives in waves.

“Some days, it feels like I am drowning, and some days I am able to tread water,” she told PEOPLE. “My whole family is putting in a lot of work in therapy and trying to heal as much as possible.”

She credits her faith with providing the strength to continue, but it is the photograph that has provided a surprising source of peace. Though initially too painful to look at, Samantha now views the image as a testament to the joy her daughter felt at the very end.

“I am so incredibly thankful to have that photo,” she said. “It captures the peaceful feeling of her last moments, the beauty she was surrounded by when she took her last breaths. I will forever picture her happy and carefree, picking flowers with her best friend and Meemaw.”