Two young siblings died alongside their father while on their way to pick up their mom from work.
Andrew Benavente was a retired police officer from Andover, NJ, who was in his car together with his 5-year-old daughter Madelyn and 13-year-old son AJ when a wrong-way driver crashed into the family’s vehicle on Friday afternoon.
According to the reports, the trio were on their way to pick up Andrew’s fiancée – the children’s mother – from work when the fatal accident occurred.
Both kids, along with their father, died in the head-on collision caused by the driver of a Jeep that allegedly swerved onto the wrong lane as the former cop passed by.
Succumbing to his injuries was also 22-year-old Bruce Cseh, the driver of the wrong-way vehicle.
It was since revealed that Madelyn called her mother, Digna Melendez-Benavente, via Facetime just moments before the crash. “Mommy!” the young girl excitedly called out when her mother appeared on camera. “We’re on our way, baby!” her father added.
In a tribute to her loving family, heartbroken Melendez-Benavente told NorthJersey.com that her children were precious and that her relationship with Andrew was perfect.
“My babies were precious. My husband was precious. People all over the world wish they had what I had,” she said.
“There was no better father than Andrew. It was important to me to find the one that would be the best father. He was the best of the best. He took care of all of us.”
Paying a tribute to his brother-in-law was also Digna’s sibling Edwin Melendez who dubbed Andrew as a “big teddy bear of a man with a loving heart.”
“He was always smiling. He was our rock. He didn’t deserve an end like this,” he said. “They were always having get togethers. They used any excuse to gather the family together and make parties.”
Edwin also launched a GoFundMe page to help his sister with the funeral expenses.
Our thoughts remain with Digna and the family during this challenging time.
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