Ohio police are searching for two male suspects in connection with the death of a mother who tried to prevent the theft of her car at a Columbus apartment complex while her 6-year-old son was inside.

The Franklin County Coroner’s Office confirmed that 29-year-old Alexa Stakely died Thursday morning at Mount Carmel East Hospital.

Columbus police said Stakely went to the 6300 block of Blue Knoll Drive at the White Oak Park Condominiums around 1:30 a.m. Thursday to pick up her son from a babysitter. She took the sleeping boy to her Honda CRV, which she left running while she met the babysitter in the doorway to get the boy’s belongings, police said.

As Stakely was walking back to her vehicle, she saw someone in the car backing into the road. Stakely ran toward the Honda and could be heard screaming for her child and telling the driver to stop.

At some point, police said, Stakely was hit by the Honda and thrown to the sidewalk, where she suffered a “fatal injury” to her head.

The vehicle was parked a short distance from where Stakely was struck. Two men were observed running north past where she was lying on the ground, jumping a fence and fleeing into a neighboring apartment complex, police said.

Earlier that morning, police said, surveillance video captured a group of men searching apartments in the Castenea Way area, a block from Blue Knoll, where the incident involving Stakely occurred. Two of the men in that group matched the description of the men seen running past Stakely after she was hit, police said.

Paramedics took Stakely to Mount Carmel East Hospital in critical condition, where she later succumbed to her injuries at 8:43 a.m.

Elementary school mourns death of “Mrs Alexa”

Stakely was a speech therapist at Canal Winchester Local Schools’ Winchester Trail Elementary School, the school district confirmed Thursday. “Ms. Alexa,” as she was called by students, had been with the school district for five years, according to a news release. Stakely, a single mother, also worked as a waitress to support her 6-year-old son. She had just finished her shift and was picking up her son from the babysitter’s house.

“Alexa had a great passion for children and speech therapy. She was smart and compassionate and was passionate about helping children develop their communication skills,” the district said.

“She was a wonderful mother who was incredibly committed to her son. Ms. Stakely made a significant impact on the lives of the students and families she worked with and will be missed by many in our community and beyond.”

Stakely lives in Pickerington and earned a master’s degree in speech and language pathology from Ohio State University, according to her LinkedIn page.

Anyone with information – including footage from a doorbell camera that may have captured what happened – is asked to call the Columbus Police Department’s Homicide Unit at 614-645-4730 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-TIPS. All calls to Crime Stoppers are anonymous.

This article originally appeared in the Columbus Dispatch: Ohio mother dies trying to prevent theft of her car with her son inside