Vivacious young woman, 26, danced in kitchen celebrating her dad’s new job just hours before she was killed in car crash, he says
A heartbroken father remembered dancing in the kitchen of his Ohio home with his daughter just hours before she died in a car crash.
Kreigh Grapel-Barnette, 26, was killed while heading home from her friend’s presentation in Cleveland around 11.30pm on September 27, 2026, Cleveland 19 reported.
That morning, her father Kristopher Barnette had just told her he got a new job as a bartender and the two celebrated the news, he told the Akron Beacon Journal (ABJ).
Later that day, Grapel-Barnette took off for Cleveland. On her way back, she got into the fatal accident.
‘Love you!’ were the last words Kristopher Barnette told his daughter before she died, ABJ reported.
The grieving dad recalled how they joked about an AI rap album he made to prepare for the new gig.
‘Dad, you’re such a nerd,’ she told him. ‘But you do get props for this.’
Later that night, she was driving her 2007 Toyota Yaris eastbound on I-480 when she veered off the left side of the roadway and collided head-on with a 2026 Subaru Outlander, according to the outlet.
Kreigh Grapel-Barnette packed tremendous life into her 26 years and leaves family and friends with the imprint of her love and vitality, according to her obituary
Kristopher Barnette was one of the last people to spend time with his daughter Kreigh Grapel-Barnette on the day she died
Grapel-Barnette formed a band with her sister at age 4 and co-founded a record label at age 7, which are two of the many music-related accomplishments under her belt
Grapel-Barnette and the family inside the Subaru were all wearing their seatbelts at the time of the crash, Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers told Cleveland 19.
The woman’s family believe her shoe got twisted between the accelerator and the brakes causing her to swerve to avoid hitting the cars in front of her, they told the Akron Beacon Journal.
She was taken to the hospital where she was later pronounced dead from her injuries.
‘[Grapel-Barnette] packed tremendous life into her 26 years and leaves family and friends with the imprint of her love and vitality,’ the woman’s obituary reads.
Her father started a biographical archive which details his daughter’s accomplishments to pay tribute to her.
Some of those include performing in a folk-punk band as a four-year-old, co-founding her own record label at age seven and campaigning for refugee rights as a college student.
Grapel-Barnette is survived by her parents, Kristopher and Tangela Barnette; her sister Sydnie Barnette; her brother Mattox Barnette; grandparents Arnold and Karen Barnette ‘and many aunts, uncles, and cousins who will hold her memory close to their hearts as they walk forward in life,’ according to her obituary.
A stone-setting ceremony was held for the woman the morning of November 1 at Foxfield Preserve in Wilmot, Ohio, followed by a celebration of life event that afternoon held at a music venue in Akron, Ohio.
