‘I watched her take her last breath’: Mother of teen killed by downed electrical line shares final moments

MONROE, Mich. (WTVG/Gray News) – Elizabeth Jacobsen, 14, was set to start her freshman year, but now her family is making plans to honor her memory after she was electrocuted by touching a downed power line.

According to Monroe police detectives, Jacobsen was walking with a friend in her backyard when they believed they could “smell a bonfire.”

“My daughter thought that it was a twig on the ground and went to go pick it up and 13,800 volts went through her body. It was a wire no smaller than a charger cord,” Elizabeth’s mother, Marthajean Hunter told WTVG.

The teen was still touching the wire when emergency crews arrived, but rescue workers couldn’t help her until the power was disconnected. By then, it was too late.

“I watched her take her last breath, which was not easy. I just wanted to rip that wire off of her,” Hunter said, adding that she feels numb.

Hunter said her daughter wanted to be a police officer. Elizabeth liked to give to others and will continue to do so by donating some of her organs.

“I’m wishing this was just a very horrific nightmare, but I know it’s not,” Hunter said while clutching one of the last things her daughter touched – Elizabeth’s beloved “Sofia the First” blanket.

DTE Energy is covering the costs of Elizabeth’s funeral.

Copyright 2022 WTVG via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.