article

A Minneapolis community is remembering the mother who died this week after her car was struck by another driver, who police say was under the influence of drugs.

Police say Mark Franklin Jr. admitted he had used PCP before he slammed into a vehicle carrying Ubah Hussein, who was eight-months pregnant, and her husband Tamam Kharow on Newton Avenue North just before 11 p.m. on Thursday.

Crews worked to free her, but sadly neither Hussein nor her unborn child survived the crash. As Franklin faces felony charges following the accident, Hussein's friends, family, and members of her community were remembering her on Saturday.

Mark Franklin Junior is facing charges for the deadly crash in Minneapolis that took the life of a mother and her unborn child.

Ubah Hussein and her husband came to this country two years ago as refugees from Ethiopia. After living in a shelter for a while, they were raising their 10 children on the north side of Minneapolis, working several jobs to provide for their growing family. Thursday night, those dreams were shattered.


“I came outside I saw the ambulance my mind thought it was a fire,” explained son Omar Ahmed.

Their oldest son, 18-year-old Omar Ahmed, usually picked his mother up from work at night while his father drove for Uber. But, Thursday night, he tragically learned his mother was killed by a wrong-way driver just a few blocks from home.

A woman and her unborn child were killed in a crash on the 1300 block of Newton Ave N in Minneapolis (Minneapolis Police Department / FOX 9)

His father suffered serious injuries.

“He broke his neck, his chest, his stomach,” Ahmed said.

Ahmed tells FOX 9 his mother worked two jobs and will be remembered for her kindness.

“The nicest person ever, sometimes she was my friend," he said. "[She'd] joke with me and laugh. I never saw another person like that."

Members of the Tawfiq Islamic Center are now stepping in to care for the children, making meals and making sure someone is staying with them until their father can be released from the hospital.

Their father was able to attend his wife's burial service Saturday morning -- even though he was in extreme pain. Elders from the mosque made sure he was able to say his final goodbye to his wife and unborn child.

At the same time, the mosque is raising money to support the family as Hussein's husband recovers from the crash. You can help out by clicking here.