Community Rallies for Family of Three Children Killed in Car Crash 6/1/12

Shelley Childers
CBS 7 News
schilders@cbs7.com
June 1, 2012

ODESSA, TX - After a terrible tragedy strikes a family there is little time for grief. Now they're planning the funeral to bury three children.

It was a car crash that shocked a community, three children killed in an instant. Their mother, stepfather, grandparents, and only surviving brother are all still in the hospital tonight, but their closest friends and family are not going through this alone.

"It's hard when three children die, you can say it's senseless."

Jose Paredes took time from sitting by his daughter’s hospital bed to speak with us about the three grandchildren he lost after a two-vehicle crash on highway 385.

"My Alaina, the baby, she was just the cutest little thing. Marie was the brightest. She was always taking care of her brothers and sister. She was the oldest. Ruben was just the bigger boy, being rambunctious."

Paredes held back tears as he explained is emotional breakdown the moment they received the news his daughter and grandchildren were in a crash.

"It took me a day of full crying, trying to pull myself together and say it's not about me, it's about the children and her and what needs to be done now."

Paredes says his time to mourn is cut short by the list of responsibilities and preparations the family now has to take care of, namely the funeral details.

"We're down one casket, we have two caskets, and so we're working trying to get the other third casket."

They're not struggling through the tragedy alone, he says the community has rallied around with overwhelming support.

A car wash has even been planned for Saturday with donated power washing equipment and an entire parking lot.

"The community has really rallied around us. They have helped out, trying to help us go through with this because it's very hard trying to bury three children."

The children's mother, Madonna, is still in ICU at Medical Center, her surviving child from the crash, 6-year-old Jaime Belis is able to speak but is still recovering in Lubbock.

Funeral arrangements are pending until their mother is able to leave the hospital.

That community car wash will be all day Saturday beginning at 9:30 a.m., in the parking lot of the old Gibson’s store at 24th Street and West County Road in Odessa.

All donations will be deposited into a special account at Chase Bank for medical and funeral expenses.

If you cannot make it to the car wash, but would still like to help you can donate to that account at Chase Bank.

That account number is 470570149.