Pregnant youth pastor killed in crash after singing ‘Ain’t No Grave (Can Hold My Body Down)’
Just hours after singing "Ain’t No Grave (Can Hold My Body Down)," Alabama youth pastor Breanna Brown Eaton and her unborn daughter died and her husband Jacob was left critically injured in a grisly crash late Saturday.
“She was singing her testimony and we didn’t even know it,’’ Alisha Stokes, whose husband pastors Lynn Church of God, told AL.com. “But God knew it.”
Both Breanna Eaton, 24, and her husband served as beloved youth pastors at Lynn Church of God at the time of the crash. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said the crash that killed Breanna who was about eight months pregnant, as well as her unborn daughter, Adelaide, occurred on AL 69 North at approximately 10 p.m.
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Breanna was traveling in a 2016 Kia Forte with her husband when their vehicle was struck by a 2008 Ford Taurus, driven by James Long of Columbia. She died on the scene while Jacob was rushed to the hospital for treatment where he is recovering.
Alisha Stokes and her husband, Chris Stokes, told AL.com that they were returning home in separate cars from a women’s conference in Cullman where they had joined the Eatons in leading their church’s praise and worship team.
Alisha and Breanna, who were both passengers in their respective cars, had been texting during the ride home when the Stokes suddenly got caught in traffic. They tried calling their youth pastors but they did not answer.
They later learned that it was the crash involving their youth pastors that that had caused the traffic jam after Alisha walked to the crash site.
“We ask that you all join us in prayer as we are all hurting right now. Pray for their families, pray for our church family and our youth group. They Pastor 40+ youth who love them dearly. The impact this precious couple has made on their lives and ours is remarkable. They are our spiritual Son and Daughter. Our hearts are hurting, but we are strong in Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit!! Satan gets NO glory for this, our God is faithful and we trust his plans and we are leaning on him for our understanding,” the church said in a statement on its Facebook page after the accident.
The Stokes told AL.com that their youth pastors had a great relationship and were looking forward to welcoming their first child after struggling to get pregnant.
“They were truly one flesh and they had a love for one another that only God could give,’’ Alisha Stokes said. “They had a beautiful marriage. He worshiped her and she worshiped him.”
Pastor Chris Stokes said after wrestling with their fertility issues “one night in a church service, God just moved, and they went home that night and conceived their miracle.’’
Earlier on the day Breanna Eaton died, prior to attending the conference, she joined her husband for a maternity photo session.
“She (Adelaide) was a miracle baby,’’ Pastor Stokes said.
For a while, after the accident, Jacob Eaton was not informed of his wife and unborn daughter’s passing. He reportedly suffered “two broken shins, broken upper left arm, broken tail bone, shifted pelvic, [as well as] a collapsed lung. There is also a hole in his diaphragm.
When Chris Stokes tried to inform him recently, Jacob reportedly told his pastor that God had already broken the news to him and he worshiped on his hospital bed through his grief.
“We’re just in the grieving process. We know the Word of God says to everything there is a season and right now we are in a season mourning but I believe we will transition into a season of joy,’’ Chris Stokes told AL.com. “God is going to turn it into something that will be triumphant.”
A GoFundMe campaign is now seeking to raise $100,000 to help Jacob Eaton with funeral and medical expenses.
