Three siblings in a Louisiana family traveling home from a high school basketball game are dead after police say their vehicle was struck head-on by a wrong-way driver on an interstate highway.
"Our lives are shattered," their sister wrote on a GoFundMe post seeking financial help for the grieving family. "I don't know how we will ever move on or recover from this."
The driver of the wrong-way vehicle also was killed in the I-49 crash shortly after 9 p.m. Friday, Louisiana State Police said in a news release.
Lindy Simmons, 20, was at the wheel of a 2017 Cadillac XT5 SUV driving on I-49 with passengers that included her sister, Kamryn Simmons, 14, and brother Christopher, 16, all of Jeanerette, police said.
Also in the vehicle was their mother, Dawn Simmons, and Christopher's 16-year-old girlfriend, according to the GoFundMe post written by the siblings' sister Katie DeRouen. The group was traveling from Monroe after watching Christopher play basketball for his undefeated Acadiana Christian School team, she said.
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Police said that as their vehicle drove south, they were struck by 54-year-old John Lundy, of Dallas, who was driving his 2005 Chevrolet Colorado pickup northbound in the wrong lane.
Lundy and Lindy Simmons — the latter wearing her seatbelt — were pronounced dead at the scene. Kamryn and Christopher Simmons later died from their injuries at hospitals; the two other passengers in the Simmons vehicle were hospitalized in critical condition.
Police were awaiting results for what they described as "standard toxicology tests" on both drivers.
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DeRouen wrote about learning what happened.
"My dad called me as I was at a Christmas party and told me, 'Mom got in a wreck. It's not looking good, but she's stable,'" she said. "I flew to the hospital, crying along the way, thinking my mom was hurt but absolutely not thinking anything worse."
By the time she arrived, her father and another brother had learned there were two fatalities but didn't know who. "I was in complete denial and knew both fatalities had to be in the other car," she wrote. "There is no way that God would take one of my little babies from us."
"As we learned the other car involved only had one occupant, my mind still convinced me that someone is getting their information twisted and it could not be true," she said. The family later learned her mother suffered a lacerated carotid artery, and that Christopher's girlfriend had a broken femur and abdominal bruising. "But they were stable and that gave us some relief to be able to deal with locating my siblings."
Then they were told the "young blonde" driving the Simmons car had not survived. At two other hospitals they located Kamryn and Christopher, eventually learning that each of them also had not survived.
"And just like that, we went from one sibling didn't make it, to all three of them not making it," DeRouen wrote.
"The three babies of the family are gone. My dad lost his three youngest children and is with my mom in ICU. My mom is in ICU without a clue as to what happened. The absolute hardest part of this entire experience, next to losing my siblings, is knowing that my mom will be informed of this whenever she awakens," she said.
"It is absolutely gut wrenching for me to share this and I am passionately sharing in hopes of raising awareness of how devastating getting behind the wheel intoxicated can be," she said. "Our lives our shattered. My parents lived for us. Everything they did in life was for the benefit of their children. We went from our 'big family of 9 kids' to 6 kids in the blink of an eye. I don't know how we will ever move on or recover from this."
The statement from Louisiana State Police read: "In one night the lives of several families have changed forever due to preventable circ*mstances. Over and over again, troopers see the tragic consequences of preventable motor vehicle crashes."
"The Louisiana State Police urges motorists to have a plan in place that includes always wearing your seat belt, never driving distracted or tired, and having a designated driver or an alternate ride home when consuming alcohol. Please choose to not drive impaired or ride with an impaired driver."
