Sofia Barrera and Albino Barrera.
“Two loved ones were taken away from us because someone was careless,” the victim’s son said
A suspected DUI crash on California’s 5 Freeway has left a family devastated after 73-year-old Albino Barrera and his 2-year-old granddaughter Sofia were killed while returning home from a birthday party. The accident, which occurred on April 19, took their lives instantly when a white Chevy SUV collided with their family’s vehicle. The Barrera family, now grieving the loss of two cherished loved ones, shared the final photo Albino and Sofia took together moments before the tragedy. A GoFundMe has been launched to support the family as they process this heartbreaking, preventable loss
A grandfather and his young granddaughter were killed over the Easter weekend when the car they were traveling in with family was hit by a suspected drunk driver.
Albino Barrera, 73, and 2-year-old Sofia Barrera were leaving a church member’s birthday party with the child’s mother, her grandmother and a cousin, when a woman driving a white Chevy SUV lost control of her car and crashed into the family’s Ford SUV Saturday, April 19.
The Barreras were just minutes away from their Anaheim, Calif., home when the fatal collision occurred on the 5 Freeway, killing the patriarch and Sofia instantly, KABC reported.
The driver, whose identity has not been released, was rushed to the hospital with major injuries and suspected to have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
PEOPLE could not immediately reach the California Highway Patrol for comment.
As the Barreras are mourning the loss, they tell the news station they were left with one final photo the pair took together just before they died.
“My dad’s not the kind of person to take pictures. He doesn’t like to take so many pictures,” Herby Barrera said of his father’s final moments in an emotional interview with KABC.
“It was something that’s going to live in our hearts forever because he decided to come to my niece and say, ‘Hey, let’s go take a picture.’ They were the last ones to take a picture in that photo booth. We left, and it’s the last picture we have of them together,” he continued.
Ishmael Barrera Romero was riding in the front passenger seat of the family’s Ford SUV when the accident happened just after 7 p.m. local time.
Albino, who was in the back with Sofia, was ejected.
“As soon as I got out of my seat, I saw my grandpa Albino on the floor,” a tearful Ishmael told ABC7.
He recalled, “I was just in shock, I didn’t know what to do. I was crying, I was calling for help. I saw witnesses there that were already calling the cops.”
“It’s very difficult to process but we’re just coming together as a family, trying to just support one another,” Herby added.
He said the situation was completely preventable: “This could be prevented if people are responsible with their driving. Two loved ones were taken away from us because someone was careless.”
Jaanai Barrera organized a GoFundMe where she said, “The family is devastated by this unimaginable loss.”
“This is one of the most challenging experiences we have ever endured as a family,” she wrote.
Albino and Sofia were remembered as “two incredible and loving individuals.”
“One was the patriarch of our family, who brought us all together, and the other was just beginning to embrace life as a Barrera,” Jaanai added.
As of Monday, April 21, the GoFundMe had reached more than $21,000 of its $25,000 goal.
