TEANECK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) — Charges had not been filed as of Monday for the tragic car crash that killed five members of a family from New Jersey. What caused a pickup truck driver to cross a center median in Delaware Friday before slamming into the family’s minivan? The Trinidads of Teaneck were as tight as a family could be. The four beautiful sisters were inseparable in life, and tragically so in death. “As a mother, the first thing you do is hug your kids because you don’t want anything like that to ever happen,” said Teaneck resident Paula Millan. The family was headed home from a vacation in Ocean City, Maryland on Friday when a pickup truck travelling in the wrong direction on Route 1 in Delaware collided with their minivan, killing 61-year-old Audi Trinidad and his daughters — Kaitlyn, 20, Danna, 17, and 13-year-old twins Melissa and Allison. Their mother, Mary Rose, was the only one to survive. The pickup hit Brian Kerns’ car right before the Trinidads’. He suffered only minor injuries. “I had gotten out and looked behind me and it sort of looked like a war zone,” said Kerns. “I heard about what happened to the family and I was sitting there in the emergency room and my heart was just pouring out to them.” Friends and loved ones are rallying to support Mary Rose Ballocanag while she recovers and lives with the unthinkable loss. Her daughter Kaitlyn was studying to be a nurse, the twins thrived in the arts, and friends say Danna was an honor student who selflessly helped others in need. “I would be falling behind and struggling and it was kind of obvious,” Danna’s friend, Armando Desequeira, said. “She’d just go, ‘Hey, this is the answer I’ll explain to you’.” Funeral arrangements were still pending as the family awaited the arrival of relatives coming from the Philippines. Meanwhile, grief counselors were being made available at Teaneck High School through Friday.
Excerpt from:
Teaneck Mourns For Members Of Trinidad Family Killed In Delaware Crash
