Family: RV chase survivor had rocky relationship with suspect
Candice Price underwent a second surgery on Friday to reconstruct her jaw. Doctors had to put two metal plates in her face.
Price’s family says she not only texted 911 during the horrific ride but also texted one of her sisters who didn't get the messages until it was too late.
Janice King shared the moment her little sister, Price, opened her eyes in the hospital. The 33-year-old was surrounded by family.
“She did open her eyes for a little bit, and she was trying to move,” King recalled. “So I was trying to tell her to reassure her you're going to be okay.”
Price's 1-year-old and 3-year-old boys were rescued by fast-acting law enforcement officers after their father, Tony Kelly, dropped them outside a burning RV moments before it’s believed he shot himself.
“Had it not been for them, it could have been a worse situation,” said Ricky Taylor, Price’s brother-in-law. “So our heart goes out to the first responders and to the officers involved.”
Kelly was driving the RV down I-30 near the Hunt-Rockwall County line when Price jumped out a window after her family says he shot her six times. She landed face first and shattered her jaw and broke her hip.
Price's brother-in-law says the couple had been on and off again for several months and were on their way to pick up their other two kids early Thursday Morning. But for some reason, things took a violent turn on I-30, leading first responders on a two-hour chase from Hunt County to Arlington.
“They have a history of instability, let's just say,” Taylor said. “They’d been working through their problems because of the kids.”
And despite the violent outcome that left Price critically injured and her sons emotionally scarred, the family says they hold no ill will towards Kelly.
“My heart goes out to her boyfriend, Tony Kelly,” Taylor said. “I'm very saddened by that, and we're still devastated by the whole incident.”
“She's got a long road ahead of her,” King said. “And we all do because of the children involved and the traumatic details that are still in folding in their lives that will always be there. So we just ask you for your prayers.”
The family says they want to thank all of the first responders who put their lives at risk Thursday morning to save Price and her kids.