‘A bad dream’: Mother, grandmother of 8 loved ones killed in fiery I-85 crash speaks

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – A Gwinnett County family is dealing with a tremendous loss this week, as they remember the eight loved ones killed in a fiery crash on Monday on Interstate 85 in Jackson County.

Eva Velasquez-Benitez said her son, Darwin Ventura, had been driving the family to go shopping during the time of the crash, and woke up Tuesday to learn the news.

“It’s terrible. I don’t know how I’m going to be without Darwin, because it’s my only family, I only have two children,” Velasquez-Benitez, mother and grandmother to two of the victims, said. “I can’t believe it, I feel like I’m in a bad dream.”

Georgia State Patrol said a semi truck had been following the family’s van too closely when it hit them, which caused a chain reaction with four more vehicles. However, the family’s van burst into flames after being hit.

“I was in shock, you know. I was like, ‘No,’” Velasquez-Benitez said.

Velasquez-Benitez said Darwin’s wife, Kenia, and their daughter Kayle were in the van with him when the crash happened.

“My baby. Like, every time out, he is like, ‘Hello, Grandmama. How are you?’ And she was a really nice girl, you know. I can’t believe it,” she said. “Like, [a] child that is four and a half years is gone already”.

She said the couple had a baby on the way and planned to buy a home soon. Kenia’s mother, Sonia Maribel Ramirez, and Kenia’s four siblings, ages two to 16 years old, were also in the van.

“I didn’t know it was the last time I would see them. Yeah, it’s terrible,” Velasquez-Benitez said.

Officials have arrested the semi-truck driver, Kane Hammock. Hammock faces several misdemeanor charges, including vehicular homicide, following too closely, plus distracted driving.

“I’m really not happy with this, the charges,” Velasquez-Benitez said. “I don’t know [if] he was on the phone or, you know, how to do the truck driving, like all the time, very close to the car. So this really, I’m really upset.”

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), in coordination with the Georgia State Patrol, has opened a safety investigation into this fatal crash.

The crash remains under investigation by the Georgia State Patrol Specialized Collision Reconstruction Team (SCRTB). All details provided are preliminary and subject to change as the investigation continues.

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‘A bad dream’: Mother, grandmother of 8 loved ones killed in fiery I-85 crash speaks

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