Family en route to wedding among crash victims, relative says
Four people killed, four injured in Saturday crash in Walworth County
A young Delavan couple and their toddler were among those killed Saturday morning in a multi-vehicle crash in Walworth County that claimed the lives of four people and sent four to the hospital, some with critical injuries.
Carlos Venegas,, 26, Maria Flores, 27, and their 2-year-old son, Carlos, died in the crash. Rosa Venegas, the elder Carlos' sister, said they were on their way to a wedding when the crash was reported around 11:45 a.m. at Highway K and Townhall Road in Sharon.
Rosa Venegas told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the couple's 6-year-old daughter, Giselle, survived and is expected to be in the hospital for days.
Deputies said a fully loaded tractor-trailer was heading north on Highway K when it approached the intersection with Townhall Road. With no stop sign on Highway K, the tractor-trailer kept going. The Delavan family members were in a Chevy pickup truck heading east on Townhall Road. The driver failed to yield to a stop sign at the intersection, officials said, and the pickup and the tractor-trailer collided in a T-bone crash.
A GMC Envoy going south on Highway K was unable to avoid the collision. The driver of that SUV, 67-year-old Carol Terry of Rockford, Illinois, also died. Her husband was among those who were critically injured.
The two people in the tractor-trailer, identified as Jerry Morris, 52, of Elkhorn, and Kevin Grethe, 46, of Sparta, remained hospitalized Monday.
"In 30 years as a firefighter and EMT, it was by far the worst scene I've been to," Sharon Fire and Rescue Chief Bruce VanderVeen said.
Rosa Venegas, 18, said her brother worked two jobs to support his family, his parents and her. She said they were on their way to the wedding of Flores' sister. The bride and groom knew only that the family was delayed because of a crash, and didn't learn how bad it was until after the ceremony.
Ray Paez, a bilingual teacher who taught Giselle for the last two years, said school officials were working to have counselors on hand when school resumes Tuesday.
"It's devastating. I'm still reeling," said Paez. "They are a super-nice, hardworking family, and Giselle is just a dream of a student."
A relative created a GoFundMe.com page to help with funeral costs for the young Delavan family.