Family ripped apart as mum of man killed by jealous girlfriend passes away

The heartbroken family of a man brutally murdered by his jealous girlfriend after a night out have been dealt another devastating blow.

Alice Wood, who mowed down charity support worker Ryan Watson outside their Rode Heath home in 2022, was sentenced to serve at least 18 years behind bars. However, the pain didn't end there for the grieving family of the 24-year-old victim.

Ryan's mum Lisa tragically passed away in November, unable to cope with the loss of her son. Ryan's gran Sandra, from Uttoxeter, said: "She died from a pulmonary embolism. Because she wasn't moving, she was unwell and not taking care of herself. She wouldn't go outside anymore. Her health deteriorated rapidly.

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"In our opinion, we feel that the stress of court and the grief was a major contributing factor to her death. We were already heartbroken. Now we've suffered another loss in the family because of this.

"I keep saying it's our opinion. I have to say that. But we strongly feel that the decline in Lisa's health and the eventual loss of her was due to my grandson's murder.",

Sandra has had to endure the unimaginable pain of losing both her grandson and her daughter, reported Stoke on Trent Live. She added: "The loss of Ryan affected us all massively. A loss is a loss, but murder just makes everything especially cruel and unnecessary.

"I understand how Lisa felt. It's so sudden and it's completely unfair. Everyone understands the pain of losing someone. But my daughter just couldn't pick herself back up from this.

"Losing her on top of everything else was just terrible. Truly devastating. My grandson Owen has come to live with us now. He has suffered quite dramatically at 21, losing his brother in such a horrible way and then his mother shortly afterwards.

"The family is just heartbroken. Not a lot of us want to go out in the community. We're trying to build ourselves back up again now, but it does haunt you terribly."

However, Sandra reckons this punishment is 'too lenient'. She continued: "We're very grateful for the conviction, but we feel that the sentence was quite light.

"I know everybody says they aren't satisfied with the sentence, but we feel she used the car as a weapon with intent. That should have warranted a higher sentence. And now we've had a further loss.

"We just want people to know what goes on behind the scenes after something like this. The devastation it causes. All because of what she's done."

Lisa's son Owen said: "The pain is indescribable. I wouldn't wish any of this on my worst enemy. I can't sleep anymore. I've been to the doctors and they've prescribed me sleeping tablets, but they don't work very well. It's got to the point where I've had to quit my job because I can't go into work with a clear mind.

"I never expected to go through all this at my age. I saw my mum's decline first-hand. I spent the most time with her as we lived together. Every day after the court case, she slowly got worse and worse.

"She couldn't get up. She told me that she didn't want to be here anymore because of how much she missed Ryan. It was so hard to see her like that."