YORK COUNTY, Va. (WAVY) – It’s been just over three months since three Tabb High school students were killed in a crash on Yorktown Road. Earlier this week a community member made three custom memorials to honor the victims, placed at the crash site. However, the next day, one of them was missing.
These are the memorials that were made. The one on the right is Naile Tairov’s.
Naile’s family told 10 On Your Side they went to go see it Sunday night, where it was beautifully lit.
Then, Monday morning, they started getting messages that it was gone.
“The first thing that came to mind is somebody is really trying to get us more down than we already are,” said Naile’s cousin, Diana Fazliyeva.
Fazliyeva says they had a brother and sister relationship. She says his death has been extremely hard on their family, especially Naile’s 7-year-old little brother, who’s still trying to understand what happened.
She says his brother also planted a little tree at the crash site, that was destroyed.
Fazliyeva says she believes someone is dishonoring his name.
“I think they’re just disrespecting and dishonoring his name because he was the driver. This isn’t the first incident that has actually happened; we just never said anything because we understand people take pain differently, but this one was a very hurtful… because it was a memorial sign not something someone said or did,” she explained.
Fazliyeva says the man who made the memorial has offered to make another one, but the family says there’s no point if someone is just going to take it again.
They’re asking whoever took it to put it back.
“I would want whoever took it to put their hand to their heart and know there are three families grieving and regardless of who was the driver, who was the passenger, or backseat it was a total of three lives lost and to bring it back,” stated Fazliyeva.