Mothers of Rosman football players killed in ATV accident react to charges in the case
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TRANSYLVANIA COUNTY, N.C. (WLOS) — The mother of a 16-year-old from Rosman, who was one of two teens killed in an ATV accident, is reacting after news that three adults were charged last week in relation to the investigation.
Brandy Wiggins said her son Jayden was the eldest of four children. He and fellow Rosman High School football player Layne Jones were killed in August 2024 when the ATV they were riding hit a tree, ejecting them both.
Three adults are now awaiting trial in this case. Ashley Marie Darity, 34, of Rosman, faces two felony counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection with the deaths. Brandon Kaine Rathbone, 47, and Patricia Faye Whitehead, 33, both face charges of “aiding and abetting a person less than 21 years of age in the possession and/or consumption of alcoholic beverages.”
Wiggins said Wednesday that she plans on attending all future court dates as the grieving mother continues to deal with an unfathomable amount of pain.
“He had the most beautiful smile, the most contagious laugh,” Wiggins said about her son Jayden. “I don’t want to see this happen to someone else. I don’t want someone else to have to go through the pain that I’ve had to go through, and that Samantha’s had to go through.”
Layne Jones’ mother, Samantha, said when the wreck happened, her son was out with friends when, at around 2 p.m. that day, his phone went dead.
“We didn’t know anything. We thought he was fishing and camping. We were trying to reward him because he had played a football game the night before, and he played an amazing game,” Jones said.
The mother wouldn’t discover the tragic news until almost 12 hours later.
“We got a call about 1 in the morning from Trish [Whitehead] and Brandon [Rathbone] saying that there had been an accident and that Layne was really hurt, so we just jumped in the car and flew up there as fast as we could, and it was too late. It was too late,” Jones said as her eyes filled with tears.
The next court date in the case is set for March 11, 2025.
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