The toddler’s mother, Peandra Hinton, claims she did not give the babysitter permission to take Nyxailia to the pumpkin patch on Tuesday, Oct. 27
A Tennessee family is seeking answers after their toddler was killed during a trip to a pumpkin patch ahead of Halloween.
During a visit to a pumpkin patch on Happy Hollow Lane in Sevierville this week, Nyxailia Hinton fell and was hit by a car driven by a family friend, WVLT 8 reported, citing the Sevier County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO).
The 21-month-old toddler was rushed to the ICU in critical condition. “She suffered a cracked skull, cracked ribs and needed a blood transfusion as doctors fought to help her,” Nyxalila’s mother, PeAndra Hinton, wrote on a GoFundMe page.
However, Nyxailia died at 12:45 a.m. local time on Tuesday, Oct. 27, per the fundraising page.
In an interview with WVLT 8, Peandra claimed she did not give Nyxailia’s babysitter permission to take her to the pumpkin patch, and she said she also didn’t know the people her toddler was with.
The name of the person caring for Nyxailia at the time of her death has not been shared publicly.
“She just lit up the room,” Peandra said of her daughter. “If you were having a bad day, you see Zayla, she’s gonna turn it all around.”
The family is now arranging Nyxailia’s funeral instead of celebrating Halloween. Thousands of dollars have been donated to the GoFundMe set up to cover her burial expenses.
“The fact that I couldn’t wake up this morning to my baby, it really tore me up,” Peandra said in the tearful interview, per WVLT 8, adding that she was used to hearing her daughter’s voice at the start of her day.
“It’s been hard,” she continued.
It was the babysitter’s mother who called Hinton to inform her of the accident, according to the news station.
“We want justice,” another relative told WVLT 8.
The incident remains under investigation. No charges have been announced.
The SCSO did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on Saturday, Oct. 31.