Vigil held for Old Highway 63 crash victim

Almost 100 people gathered Sunday night to remember a woman killed in an early morning crash on Old Highway 63 in Columbia.

Perri Jones, 21, died when she drove off the right side of the road, went down an embankment and rolled. She was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the car.

Her passenger, Destiny Hardin, 18, went to the hospital with minor injuries.

People at the vigil remembered her a vibrant woman who knew how to light up a room.

“She had a smile, she had a presence that was unmatched,” said recent University of Missouri grad Marquise White. “I think she touched a lot of people in Mizzou’s community, a lot of people back home in St. Louis and anybody else that knew her knew that she was an extremely special girl.”

White said the vigil was a way for people to express their grief and come to reality about Jones’s death.

Her former college adviser, Donald Gilliam, said he was devastated when he heard about the crash.

“It’s one of those things that you don’t ever expect to hear,” he said. “As an educator, one of my biggest fears is losing a student. She was the first student that I’ve lost.

Law enforcement is still investigating whether or not she was under the influence when she crashed. According to authorities, neither Jones nor Hardin was wearing a seat belt.