DAVIE, FLA. (WSVN) - A South Florida officer is helping out a family who lost their loved ones after a car struck them while they were trick-or-treating in Davie.
The Halloween tragedy took the lives of a father and daughter in Davie, but one police officer wanted to aid the family in their time of need.
“Just to help a family with the loss of a child is hard enough, but to then to lose a husband and a child, it was something I just felt we had to do something with,” said Davie Police Officer Jeff Stewart.
Stewart and his family started a charitable organization called Love and Kindness Everyday. Through that charity, he’s trying to help Maria Orellana Cruz.
On Oct. 31, her 46-year-old husband Carlos Alvarado Amaya and their daughters, 5-year-old Heydi and 2-year-old Kaylee, were out trick-or-treating when they were hit by a car as they tried to cross Griffin Road.
Kaylee was the only one who survived.
“Yes, this is a miracle from God that she survived,” Cruz said through a translator.
The family is from El Salvador. While there will be a private funeral service here, Cruz wants to send her husband and daughter back to their home country for burial.
Stewart’s fundraising efforts will help with the financial burden and more.
“We want to give any money that is left over to them to help them get through this,” Stewart said, “to help the mom to get some training to be able to get a job and to help her with her 2-year-old and her 15-year-old that she now has to raise by herself.”
As of Friday, the South Florida community has donated over $20,000.
“This is a prime example of how the community has come together in such phenomenal way,” Stewart said.
A small memorial has grown as people have left teddy bears and flowers at the scene of the tragedy.
If you would like to donate, go to this link.
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