TAMPA, Fla. _ Before Jessica Raubenolt was fatally struck by a speeding black Mustang on Wednesday, the gray skies she had seen all week had turned blue so she decided to take her baby out in the stroller.
Her husband, David, had just completed his flight certification in Pompano Beach and could now fly single engine planes. In another week, the young couple would leave the home of her uncle John Reisinger off Bayshore Boulevard and return to Jeromesville, Ohio, where he would start flight school.
Their bright future was cut short when a young man racing another car slammed into Jessica Raubenolt and her 21-month-old daughter as mother pushed baby across Bayshore, Tampa police said.
Jessica Raubenolt, 24, died at Tampa General Hospital. Her daughter, Lillia, was listed in critical condition there and a police report said she is not expected to survive.
The three people accused in her death have been released on bail while police investigate the collision.
"She made a mark on this world. That her death will not diminish," said John Reisinger, 62, who lives a quarter of a mile from the accident scene. "The biggest tragedy is that more people didn't know her."
Tristan Christopher Herrin, 20, a passenger in the car that fatally struck Raubenolt, was released from the Hillsborough County jail around 3 a.m. after posting $500 bail on a misdemeanor charge of racing, jail records show.
He was the passenger in a black 2018 Ford Mustang that was driven by his brother, 18-year-old Cameron Herrin, who hours later was released after posting $10,000 bail, police said.
Cameron Herrin and 17-year-old John Alexander Barrineau, who was driving a gold Nissan, face charges of vehicular homicide, street racing and reckless driving resulting in serious bodily injury.
None of the three has a criminal record in Florida, according to a search of Florida Department of Law Enforcement records.
They are accused of racing along Bayshore Boulevard at speeds witnesses say reached 60 mph just before noon when they struck the victims. One witness saw Jessica Raubenolt fly through the air upon impact, according to an arrest report.
"We're praying for those young boys and their families," Reisinger said. "As much as this will negatively affect our lives, we hope that something good can come of this. We hope something good will come of this foolish accident. That's what Jessie would want."
Raubenolt married her husband two years ago, Reisinger said. He described her as a devoted mother, wife, niece and relative.
When Raubenolt was in high school, she won a gold award from Girl Scouts after a gardening project she did. The garden is still there, Reisinger said.
The most recent images on her Facebook page show photos from her wedding, a portrait of Lillia and snapshots of the family's life in Ohio.
Raubenolt was legally crossing the intersection when she was struck, police said.
