"He was only 22 months old. But he was a happy, smart, and nice little boy," Nicholas' mother wrote.
In a fatal accident in Houston, a 22-month-old baby boy lost his life. The accident occurred at the Texas Bridge when a cement truck railed off the overpass and toppled onto an SUV below on the Sam Houston Parkway, causing the death of baby Nicholas.
As per PEOPLE, four people who died in the crash were Nicholas Resendiz, the 22-month-old boy along with his twin sister, a 22-year-old female passenger, 54-year-old SUV driver. The other passengers were retrieved from the vehicle safely.
The cement truck was driven by a 36-year-old driver who "lost control" of the vehicle, Senior Deputy Thomas M. Gilliland said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE.
22-Month-Old Twin Dies in 'Freak Accident' After Cement Truck Falls Off Texas Bridge and Lands on Family SUV https://t.co/4z9MLmuXeg
— People (@people) August 8, 2022
The child's mother said that her "family was devastated by an unexpected and unimaginable tragedy."
Eyewitnesses at the accident site rushed to help the family trapped in the car and were successful in retrieving the twin sister but were unable to save Nicholas because of the position he was stuck in.
One of the witnesses, Raymond Romo, talked to ABC13 about the accident. "We tried to grab the baby initially, first and foremost. She was kind of pinned in, and I was reaching back, (but) the front seat was a little hard to get. And he just starts yanking on the front seat. I started yanking on the car seat for the baby to get her out and we were actually able to get her out before she was pinned in," he said about rescuing the twin baby sister. “Luckily, I was able to get out one of them, But, I couldn’t get out the other,” Romo added, referring to baby Nicholas.
A 22-month-old toddler has died after a cement truck lost control, fell off an overpass and landed atop another vehicle in Texas Friday afternoon, police said. https://t.co/AIvyR4GFuy
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) August 7, 2022
The police officials carried out an investigation and confirmed that the truck driver wasn't intoxicated, adding that the weather was one of the factors that caused the accident.
HCSO Sheriff Simon Cheng, one of the police officials, explained, per WOAI-TV, "The roadway surface was slick based on the information provided to our investigators." He added, "The driver of [the] cement truck stated that her vehicle started slipping and she wasn't able to control her vehicle." The truck then spun into the road's outside barrier wall before it fell over onto the Ford below, according to authorities.
HCSO Sheriff Ed Gonzalez tweeted about the accident; he was the first one to report the accident on August 5.
Update to crash scene: deceased child is 22-months-old. Media staging area: 14650 Woodforest Blvd, SW corner of Woodforest and Beltway. #HouNews https://t.co/oXx2QYM9qT
— Ed Gonzalez (@SheriffEd_HCSO) August 5, 2022
The sudden death has left the Resendiz family in a state of shock and grief. Jennifer Resendiz, the mother of 22-month-old Nicholas, has organized a fundraiser on GoFundMe to help the family with the toddler's funeral expenses.
"Baby Nicolas Resendiz lost his life in a horrible, freak accident. He was only 22 months old. But he was a happy, smart, and nice little boy. Although our family is still in shock, unable to process the loss of this sweet angel, we know that the days to come will be even more challenging as (a) mom has to make arrangements for his funeral," Jennifer wrote in the GoFundMe description.
As of now, the fundraiser has successfully collected a sum of $25,085, exceeding the goal of $15,000 set by Jennifer. People of the community and the internet have poured in their condolences and regrets through words and donations to the Resendiz family in their time of grief.
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Cover Image Source: GoFundMe| Photo by Jennifer Resendiz
