Amanda Wright and Jonathan Russell are remembered by friends and family members as kind and loving young people who will be “extremely missed.” Wright, 19, and Jonathan, 10, died Tuesday in a car accident near Riceboro.
Latascha Moore remembers her son as an angel and said Jonathan was always smiling. “He never wanted anyone to be sad. He never saw any wrong in anybody. He never knew a stranger,” she said. “He loved to sing and he loved playing video games.”
Jonathan was an active boy who also loved sports and was rooting for the New Orleans Saints to win the Super Bowl. “He loved his brothers and sister. He looked up to his older brother,” Russell said. Dominic Russell, 11, was injured in the collision, as was Erin Fletcher, 20.
Sharon Duval, Jonathan’s fourth-grade teacher at Waldo Pafford Elementary, told television reporters this week that the 10-year-old always had a smile and a hug for her at the end of the day. She said it will be difficult to answer students’ questions about his death.
Funeral services for Russell are scheduled for 3 p.m. Wednesday at Life United Pentecostal Church in Hinesville. Interment will follow at Oglethorpe Memorial Park.

Wright’s mother, Ana Vasquez-Taylor, described her daughter as a young woman who loved her baby sister, loved children and enjoyed helping friends plan events. Wright’s family moved to Hinesville in 2003, where Wright attended Snelson Golden Middle School and graduated from Bradwell Institute.
Amanda Wright completed two semesters at Armstrong Atlantic University before taking some time off. Her mother said Wright was planning to return to school this year to finish school.
“She was the most caring, considerate, outgoing and bubbly person,” Wright’s mother said. “I was 17 when I had her, so we were like sisters. She is extremely loved and she had so many friends — I can’t count how many have called me since.”
Wright’s funeral will be in Connecticut where her extended family lives, but a local memorial service will be held sometime in the next couple weeks. The family has also set up a memorial fund in her name: contributions may be sent to the Amanda Wright Memorial Fund, c/o Heritage Bank, 300 South Main St., Hinesville, GA 31313.