Grandmother Spent Her Final Hours Holding Newborn Grandson. She Died in a Crash on the Way Home

After spending the day last month with her 1-month-old grandson, 76-year-old Nancy Veasy left her son’s home to get back in time for a concert with her husband of 56 years. Her son was following behind, dropping off his son with his sister.

“I said, ‘We’re right behind you,’ ” Japhet Veasy, 50, tells PEOPLE.

A short time later, Japhet got stuck in traffic and fell behind. His sister called him, saying she had received an alert from their mom’s Apple watch that said she had either fallen or been in an accident.

He couldn’t believe it.

“I said, ‘No, she just left. She’s coming to your house. We’re on our way there,’” remembers Japhet, a merchandiser manager at Keurig Dr Pepper.

When his wife saw cars turning around, they continued driving until they reached the crash scene.

At first, law enforcement wouldn’t let him approach the vehicle, but while FaceTiming his sister, he walked around and could look inside the car. He saw his mom inside.

“That was devastating,” he says. “It broke me down. I couldn’t take it. I was hyperventilating. I really couldn’t breathe.”

His mother was his best friend. Their birthdays were two days apart, and they always celebrated together. “No words could say the amount that I love her and what I loved about her: It’s everything,” he says. “I loved everything about her. Still do.”

Nancy worked in many roles throughout her life, including as an elementary school teacher’s assistant, a machinery mechanic at Miller Brewing Company, and even an 18-wheel truck driver before retiring.

She also hand-sewed quilts for all three of her children, her eight grandchildren, and her three great-grandbabies, who are identical triplets. For the last nine years, she volunteered every Sunday in her church’s baby room, holding newborn babies.

“She was a light,” says daughter Ameera Joe, 55, an intersect director who does community outreach work for North Point Community Church.

The last time Joe saw her mom was hours before the crash on July 25 at her home in Milton, Ga.

For the past 12 years, her parents lived with her and her husband, who built an in-law suite for them. Before leaving to visit her newest grandson, baby Jaxon, her mom stuck her head into her office and said she was heading out.

While Nancy spent the day in Douglasville with her grandson, her son says, “she held him the whole time” and “never put him down.”

Before leaving, Nancy offered to drive with the newborn, but Japhet and his wife decided it would be better if they drove with their son, so one person could focus on driving and the other on the baby.

From what the family was told, the driver who hit Nancy was allegedly weaving in and out of traffic, lost control, and went airborne. The car crossed the median before hitting several cars, including Nancy’s. Another person in a different car also died in the crash.

On Thursday, Aug. 14, a South Fulton Police Department spokesperson confirmed to PEOPLE that warrants had been issued in connection to the crash. No arrest has been made yet, and charges are pending against the driver, whose name has not been released.

Nancy’s daughter tells PEOPLE that while the family is “trying to trust the process,” it is difficult.

“I’m struggling with the fact this person is not in jail and he just killed my mother,” she says. “So it’s a struggle, but I’m trying to find grace.”

As a sign of the impact Nancy had on her community, the family expected more than 200 people to attend her funeral — but about 500 people came to pay their respects.

“My mom had a big heart,” says Nancy’s eldest daughter, Anita Wellington, 58, an accountant for the federal government who lives in Sumter, S.C. “She was always giving, she was always trying to be there for everybody.”