DECATUR COUNTY, GA (WTXL) — Joy Knop lost her son Levi in 2019 after he was hit and killed by a speeding driver. ABC 27 previously reported on Levi's story in 2025, when his community came together to remember him.
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"You shouldn't have to live without your child, whether it be a loss from cancer or a situation like Levi. A parent shouldn't. It's just not the natural order of things," Knop said.
Knop says she wants Levi's story to serve as a reminder for every driver on the road.
"He lost his life unnecessarily. It was 100% avoidable. He should still be here today, but because of someone else's poor choices, he's not," Knop said.
According to the Georgia Governor's Office of Highway Safety, 22 percent of all traffic fatalities in 2023 were speeding related.
Grady County Sheriff Martin Prince says he has seen firsthand the fatal consequences of speeding.
"Speeding is one of those things that it affects everybody on the roadway. And what I mean by that is if you're traveling on a two-lane road out here and you're running 70 miles an hour and the car in front of you, or that you're meeting is running 70 miles an hour, you're looking at 140 miles an hour of force when it meets," Prince said.
The Knop family has established the Live Like Levi Foundation in honor of Levi.
Knop's message comes as Operation Southern Slow Down returns to Georgia, a campaign aimed at educating drivers on the importance of following traffic safety laws and reducing speed-related accidents across multiple states.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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