Texas Mother's Last Communication with Daughter Revealed After Tragic Incident

A mother sent a simple, practical text to her daughter, not knowing it would be the last message she ever sent her. When that text went unanswered, a silence she couldn't explain began to grow, and then a call from a stranger's number changed everything.

Courtney Hodge, 19, of Red Oak, Texas, was a freshman at Louisiana State University who had just finished her first year of college.

On Friday, May 22, 2026, she got in her car and started driving home from school. But she never made it, and her mother spent that day waiting for a reply and sending a few more desperate messages.

Where Did the Crash Happen, and What Caused It?

Louisiana State Police began an investigation into a car crash just after 3 p.m. that day. According to officials, Courtney was driving a 2025 Kia K4 westbound on the highway when a semi-truck ahead of her began to slow down as it approached a crossover.

For reasons investigators have not yet determined, the Kia failed to brake, and it struck the back of the truck. Unfortunately, Courtney died at the scene from her injuries. The cause of the crash remains under active investigation.

Her parents, Sherqueena and Brian Jackson, got in their car and went to Louisiana immediately after learning what happened. Sherqueena said she needed to be there.

"My husband drove us down to Louisiana so we could see her and let her know that I was here and that she didn't have to be by herself and be afraid," she explained.

Sadly, they never received good news. Brian put his grief into the only words that seemed to fit. "You can't be OK," he said. "There's no OK."

Who Was Courtney, and What Did She Leave Behind?

Courtney was studying political science at college, had graduated from Red Oak High School in the top 10% of her class, and, by every account, was the kind of person who made a room feel fuller just by walking into it.

In high school, she had been a cheerleader, a soccer player, and someone her family said was naturally drawn to people, and people were equally attracted to her.

She loved music, Tyler, the Creator in particular, and brought a constant energy and laughter to everyone around her. Her mother further shared, "She's just a great sister, a great daughter, a great granddaughter, a great friend."

Courtney had a little sister, 7-year-old Carter, who adored her. "And she was the best sister that I could ever have, and she was my best friend," Carter said.

Their family also described the 19-year-old as the light of their home. A home that, as of this week, feels painfully quiet.

What Was the Last Message Her Mother Sent?

That Friday, Sherqueena sent Courtney a text, knowing that she would be driving home from school. "Before I left work, I had texted her, 'Refresh your Life360,'" she told WFAA. "She didn’t respond to that."

Life360 is a location-sharing app, so families and/or friends can keep track of their loved ones whom they have authorized. At first, when Courtney didn't reply, Sherqueena didn't think much of it.

Her daughter was known for letting her phone's battery die. But as time passed without a reply, something shifted. In a Facebook post shared on May 23, Sherqueena wrote about what she noticed in those quiet minutes.

"My text messages were green instead of blue, and your phone was going straight to voicemail," she wrote. "Now you were known to let that phone go dead, but this was a different type of silence."

In the post, Sherqueena talked about having sent Courtney some gas money for the drive home and how she was waiting at the house in anticipation of her arrival. The plan for that particular evening included a celebratory dinner out.

Additionally, this visit back home was meant to be a short, week-long break before Courtney needed to head back to LSU.

Then came a call from a number Sherqueena didn't recognize. Her first thought was that Courtney had borrowed someone's phone. "Thinking, 'ok, she's using someone's phone,'" she wrote, "but it was not you on the other end."

What Did Her Mother Write After the Call?

Sherqueena shared a screenshot of the text thread on the same Facebook post, and the desperate messages sent after getting that call show a mother going through every stage of fear in real time.

It started with the practical. Then the tone shifted:

"Tell them to take care of you. I love you. Tell them your sister is waiting for you. Wake up please. Moo are you ok? Please be ok. I just want to hold you."

None of those messages was ever answered.

In the same post, Sherqueena explained that she would've far preferred to receive unpredictable text messages from her child than to get no response at all. She also expressed her deep and enduring love for her daughter, whom she affectionately called Moo.

Speaking to WFAA, the family ultimately hoped that people would carry Courtney's memory forward. "She was a friend to everybody," Sherqueena said.

We offer our condolences to Courtney's loved ones as they deal with this tragedy.