Girl, 10, Killed; Grandmother Survives When Tree Falls on Atlanta Bed

Tanasia Kenney
Belleville News-Democrat
(TNS)

A 10-year-old girl died and two other people were injured after a large tree crashed through the roof of her family’s home, Georgia firefighters said.

It happened at about 3 a.m. Saturday, May 3, on Mims Street in Atlanta’s Mozley Park neighborhood, according to the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department.

Family members said A’erica Dixon was lying in bed with her grandma when a tree split and fell onto the house, according to WXIA. They were trapped, as were A’erica’s mom and three siblings, WAGA reported.

Her mom and grandmother were taken to a hospital, but A’erica died from her injuries, according to city fire officials.

Loved ones said A’erica was known by her friends and family as “Tink.”

“Tink was a very happy child who was a cheerleader,” her cousin, Tomeka Dixon, wrote on a GoFundMe page for the family. “She loved dancing and making TikTok videos & playing with her toys.”

Several Atlanta-area counties were placed under a severe thunderstorm watch late Saturday evening as heavy storms rolled into the region, according to the National Weather Service.

“The house just started shaking,” A’erica’s older sister, Akiylah Dixon, recalled to WANF. “Everything just crashed, and I just see my mama running through the hallway to get to my grandma.”

“I broke down really bad, because that wasn’t just my little sister. That was my best friend,” she told the station.

Relatives said a limb of the tree had fallen before, barely missing the family’s SUV during Hurricane Helene in 2023, WXIA reported.

“The landlord was informed about it, and they were supposed to come and cut the whole entire tree down so this wouldn’t happen again,” Erica Melson, a relative, told the station.

A funeral for A’erica will be held May 24, according to GoFundMe.

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