Family and friends of baby Jordyn Richlynn Smith are washing cars to raise money for her funeral.
Many traveled to the French Gulch Campground in Lake Isabella on Saturday to see the fireworks show. But, when they woke up the next day they learned the tragic news that devastated Jordyn's family.
“My baby was a very healthy and happy baby,” said Teasa Smith, Jordyn's mother. “She had the most beautiful smile and giggled and already rolled over by herself on her tummy. She was the best thing that ever happened to us.”
Smith says Jordyn was a “Mommy's girl.” She says she doesn't know what happened the night she put her daughter to bed.
“We are waiting on answers from the Coroner’s office,” she said. “We still don’t know. We still would love to know.”
Smith, her baby, and her husband Chris slept in a tent in the back of their pick-up truck. Jordyn's grandmother, Jane Smith, says screams woke her up Sunday. She says she drove everyone to the fire station on Lake Isabella Blvd., but she knew it was too late.
"This baby was a joy, she was a love. She had the most beautiful blue eyes you ever saw,” Smith said. “I didn't know babies smiled at two months, but she would just smile and laugh at you.”
Jordyn was transported to Kern Valley Hospital where she was pronounced dead.
"The day she was born I started singing “Running Bare,” Smith said. “That was our thing, and now my little running bare is gone."
She says the family has been taking Jordyn camping ever since she was one week old. Smith says her son, Jordyn’s father, hasn’t been the same since Sunday and cries all the time.
"She was perfect in very way,” Teasa Smith said. “Unfortunately, God wanted a perfect angel so he took her.”
An autopsy was performed Monday, but the Coroner's office says the cause of death is pending more tests.
The family hopes to raise $12,000 for the baby’s funeral and burial.
