Makeup artist killed in North St. Louis crash honored with balloon release
JENNINGS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - Charles Swearengen said he will never forget the call he received from his family on March 1st.
“My grandson gave me a call and told me there was an accident,” he said. “When he called me, he was calm at first and I asked him where he was and he said he didn’t know then he was crying.”
Swearengen’s daughter, Kayla, then got on the phone.
“Kayla told me, ‘Daddy I need you, Candice is laying on the ground and she’s bleeding’ so immediately I rushed to see what was wrong with my baby,” he recalled.
Candice, being 31-year-old Candice Swearengen, Charles’ second oldest child.
She died at the hospital following the crash at North Broadway and Calvary Avenue in Baden.
St. Louis Metropolitan Police said a 23-year-old was speeding while driving a Mazda 6 southbound on North Broadway when he entered the northbound lanes and struck a Swearengen’s Jeep Wrangler, causing it to flip. A Chevrolet Malibu that was traveling northbound was also hit.
Swearengen’s loved ones gathered Sunday at her workplace, B’Luxury Barber and Beauty for a balloon release.
“Anybody’s life that Candice touched, you can see that she had a big impact on her life,” Swearengen said. “What she did, she did everyone’s make-up, that was my A-1 daughter, that did everything we needed her to do, anytime I called her she was there.”
She worked as a makeup artist and was known for her signature look called Candy-Coated.
“We don’t want anyone to feel out of place and Candice played a major part in that,” the shop’s co-owner, Damon Miller said. “Speaking when she comes through the door saying ‘Hey family’, that’s how she’d greet everyone, ‘Are you guys ready to get the day started and get money?’ things like that, we’re gonna miss her. "
She was one of the shop’s first hires.
“Her energy just uplifting, energetic, positive it makes a person a joy to be around,” Miller said.
Swearengen said he hopes people will be able to keep the world as beautiful as his daughter made it.
“I love seeing the love they’re giving my daughter, I hope they continue doing this too,” he said. “We still going to need all the .”
A GoFundMe has been set up to Swearengen’s two children.
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