Zoe Sozo Bethel won the title Miss Alabama in 2021. Her life looked perfect on Instagram, but her very last post was January 31, 2022.

On February 16, 2022, Bethel’s family used her Instagram account to share some tragic news. Bethel “had an accident” on February 10th. They did not specify what the accident was, but they wrote that as a result of the accident, she “sustained severe damage to her brain/brainstem & is in a coma.”

Her family asked for prayers explaining that it didn’t look like Bethel was going to make it. They wrote, “Unfortunately the doctors are saying the damage cannot be repaired & that she may not have much time left.”

Unfortunately, Bethel did not survive the mysterious accident, which left many wondering what exactly happened. Police originally said the “accident” looked like an “attempted suicide,” but her family claimed she was never suicidal. Police now agree with the family that it wasn’t suicide but a “tragic accident.”

Some of Bethel’s family members were with her with the accident occurred. According to The Daily Mail, Bethel’s 5-year-old daughter and her brother,Santiago Roman, were both in the room with her and witnessed the accident that led to her death. In fact, they were at her brother’s apartment when the accident happened.

Roman and Bethel went to a restaurant for dinner earlier that evening. While at the restaurant, Roman noticed that she was eating something unusual. He asked her what it was, and she claimed it was “a form of cannabis that helps her relax given to her by a friend.” 

After dinner, Roman and Bethel returned to his apartment building in Miami, Florida. According to the police report, Bethel took a shower and said she wasn’t feeling well. The report describes her as “acting strange.”

Bethel had been sleeping on an air mattress while she stayed with her brother, and he left her alone for a few minutes so he could go inflate the air mattress. While he was in the other room, “he heard the door to the apartment open. Mr. Roman then went out and observed the victim walking near the elevator. Mr. Roman called out the victim’s name to tell her to get back inside. The victim looked back and took off running full speed straight ahead.”

Unfortunately, Bethel ran too far. “Mr. Roman stated that the victim was not aware of the balcony railing in front of her. The victim’s bottom part of her body hit the railing and she fell over, landing on the first-floor parking lot.”

As soon as he saw his sister fall off the balcony, Roman ran downstairs to the parking lot. Meanwhile, a witness who saw Bethel fall had already called 911. During the 911 call, the witness described Bethel as having “jumped off the balcony.”

Another somewhat conflicting account states that Bethel was on the phone with another brother, Zion Lemuel Bethel, when she fell off the balcony. According to this brother, his sister sounded “distressed and at one point started to pray before she jumped.”

Regardless of the exact details, police have ruled out foul play.

[Image credit: Instagram]