BATON ROUGE – A Baton Rouge mother, Christy Blackwell Gomez, is still coming to terms with a brutal reality after her 17-year-old son, Mason Prima, was tragically killed in a car accident Friday night in Mississippi. “I am living any parent’s worst nightmare. Our sweet Mason was taken to heaven last night,” she shared in a post.
The vibrant high school senior from The Dunham School, known for his love of family and the outdoors, had been planning to stay with his mother that evening. Instead, a change occurred, forever altering their lives.
Mason had originally planned to take the ACT on Saturday morning and stay at his mom’s home Friday night. But when Hurricane Francine forced the exam to be postponed, Mason’s plans changed. With his schedule cleared, he and his friend Austin headed to Austin’s father’s camp in Liberty, Mississippi, for a weekend getaway. The two friends, driving separately, were just 20 minutes from the camp when Mason lost control of his truck for reasons that are still unknown.
“His friend (Austin) said that he just saw Mason through his rearview mirror like, swerving, you know, really hard to the left and then really hard to the right, I guess. Like he was trying to get control of it,” she recounted. “He turned around really fast, and went back and he said it was really, really bad.”
After the accident unfolded in the woody area, Austin and a nearby neighbor rushed to Mason’s side, offering what help they could while waiting for emergency responders. Mason, who was wearing his seatbelt, was airlifted to Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, where he was immediately taken into surgery. Despite the doctors’ best efforts, Mason’s injuries were too severe, and he passed away. “This has always been my greatest fear,” Christy said.
Christy, though heartbroken, finds peace in what she describes as a series of divine moments leading up to her son’s death. She said Mason unknowingly had the chance to say goodbye to those closest to him before his fatal journey. His grandparents happened to visit, allowing him to embrace them.
“I think that it was God, because Mason got to hug his grandparents goodbye. He had to hug me and my husband, which we would have never normally done. Then he went to his girlfriend’s house and got to say goodbye to her really quickly. Then went to his dad’s and said goodbye to him,” she shared.
These moments, Christy believes, were no coincidence.
“Mason was such a wonderful child. He loved his family and rarely ever got into trouble,” she recalled, her voice filled with the ache of a mother’s loss. One of Mason’s greatest joys was taking his 9-year-old sister, Ava, to school every morning, the two of them singing along to country music on the drive. “He prided himself on family time. He loved his sisters. He was a boy’s boy, through and through—hunting, fishing, water sports, anything outdoors,” she lovingly shared. “He was such a strong, strong athletic person.”
In a bittersweet memory, Christy spoke about Mason’s determination to take his senior picture while water skiing, a moment that now symbolizes his tenacity.
She described his excitement that day, saying, “He looked at me with the biggest grin and said, ‘I’m nervous, and I don’t know why.’ Y’all, the determination this boy had to get that picture! I started to lose hope when he put the gown on upside down, and then the arm in the wrong hole. I thought, ‘This isn’t going to work.’ But his determination was greater than my doubts,” she shared emotionally.
Though from a Christian family, Christy had harbored concerns about Mason’s faith. But in the days following his death, she discovered that Mason had quietly cultivated a deep relationship with Jesus. This revelation has brought her immense comfort in her grief, and she encourages others to find their own faith.
“Get plugged into a good, Bible-believing church. Know Jesus as your Lord,” she urged. “It’s truly the only way I’ve made it through this.”
The outpouring of love and support from family, friends, and the community has been overwhelming for the Gomez family. “I have my really bad moments, you know. But I also feel very, very strong, and I know that strength is only coming from God and the prayers and the people that are, like, holding me up in prayer,” she said softly.
They’ve received countless calls, texts, and meals from loved ones, especially from The Dunham School community, where Mason was a student. Though her heart is shattered, Christy remains grateful for the love surrounding them in their darkest time.
“We are lost, we are broken, we are holding on to our faith the best that we know how.”
As Christy and her family face the unimaginable, their faith sustains them, and their memories of Mason—a son, a brother, a friend—will live on forever.
“Death has to have a purpose. It has to have a purpose like God would not take him for no reason, like, if my faith can help one family, you know, then that’s Mason’s purpose,” Gomez said.
A GoFundMe page has been set up for those who would like to contribute to the family in this time. Services will be held this Wednesday morning at The Chapel Baton Rouge on Siegen Lane. Details can be found on his obituary page.
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