Heartbroken dad 'can't process' crash that took son's life
CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina (WTVD) -- Ricardo Nunez Jr. doesn't have much information on why his ex-wife was trying to make an illegal U-turn on a busy Interstate 40 with their two young sons in the car.
What he is most consumed with is how to bury one son and be there to support the one who survived.
GOFUNDME: CLICK HERE TO HELP THE FAMILY
Nunez, heartbroken and in tears outside UNC Children's Hospital in Chapel Hill, keeps replaying the images in his mind from Tuesday -- the burning car, the black smoke.
"I've seen the video about 40 times last night," Nunez said. "I still just can't process it."
The woman behind the wheel was Angela Jones. She and Nunez had two sons together: 9-year-old Daniel and 11-year-old Isaiah. Not long after the fiery wreck on I-40, Nunez got a phone call.
"And she said that Isaiah, Daniel and Angela were all in an accident. And she told me Isaiah didn't make it," Nunez recalled. "I'm a little numb right now. I just lost my boy."
PREVIOUS STORY: 11-YEAR-OLD KILLED IN CRASH ON I-40 NEAR BENSON
Troopers says Jones was attempting an illegal U-turn from I-40's eastbound median near Benson when she was rear-ended, pushed into oncoming traffic, setting off a multi-car wreck.
With help from a good Samaritan, Angela escaped her burning car and little Daniel jumped out on his own.
"But they couldn't get a hold of Isaiah," said the boy's grandfather, Ricardo Nunez Sr. "The car was already engulfed in flames."
Daniel is heavily sedated with burns on 8 percent of his body. He should make a full recovery. Jones is listed in critical condition, sedated with burns to half of her body.
"It's going to be a very long road. We're thinking Angela won't be out of the hospital for six to 12 months," Nunez Sr. said.
Meantime, the boy's grieving father, whose left arm is emblazoned with tattoos of his boys' names is trying to figure out how he'll break the news about Isaiah when Angela and Daniel are finally awakened -- how he'll tell her their son is gone and tell Daniel his big brother didn't make it.
"Him and his brother were inseparable," Nunez Jr. said. "Wherever Daniel was, Isaiah was. He loved being a big brother."
GOFUNDME: CLICK HERE TO HELP THE FAMILY
There's also the issue of how to pay for Isaiah's funeral expenses along with Daniel and Jones' mounting medical bills. The family has set up a GoFundMe page to accept any donations.
