‘My family is gone.’ Parents mourn four children killed in 100-mph Nevada collision

Erlinda Zacarias and her husband waited at a buffet for their four children to join them after an outing to a Nevada park with their uncle and adult stepbrothers.

“Mom, I’m on my way to you,” her 13-year-old daughter told her in a phone call, KTNV reported.

“They never showed up,” Zacarias told the station.

Her four kids, ages 5 to 15, died along with their three relatives and two others when a Dodge Challenger traveling 100 mph ran a red light and crashed into their Toyota Sienna in North Las Vegas at 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 29, McClatchy News reported.

Fernando Yeshua Mejia, 5; Adrian Zacarias, 10; Lluvia Daylenn Zacarias, 13; Bryan Axel Zacarias, 15; Gabriel Mejia-Barrera, 23; David Mejia-Barrera, 25; and Jose Zacarias-Caldera, 35, died in the Toyota Sienna.

Also killed were Gary Dean Robinson, 59, who was driving the Dodge Challenger, and his passenger, Tanaga Ravel Miller, 46. Six others were injured in the six-vehicle pile-up.

Robinson had a long criminal history including several citations for speeding, KLAS reported. He had just pleaded guilty Jan. 20 to speeding in December and paid a $150 fine, the station said.

The deadly crash has Zacarias and her husband, Jesus Mejia-Santana, struggling to pick up the pieces, she told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

“He and I have to live for each other, because we have nothing to live for,” Zacarias said. “Our world has ended.”

The children had interests ranging from cooking to karate and loved hanging out with their uncle and adult stepbrothers, who also lived with the family, she told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

“And now they’re angels,” Zacarias told the publication. Mejia-Santana said his adult sons were “good men”

Nancy Young knew the family from church, KVVU reported.

“It’s just a heart-wrenching thing to see this happen,” Young said. “I’m never going to see them again, and that’s what’s so devastating.”

Mariah Southern, a classmate of 13-year-old Lluvia Zacarias, told KVVU that students at the school grieved for her Monday.

“It was people crying everywhere,” Southern told the station. “She meant something to the whole school, whether people knew her or not.”

The family has established a GoFundMe to cover funeral expenses.

“I never thought this was going to happen to me,” Zacarias told KTNV. “My family is gone.”

This story was originally published February 1, 2022 at 1:17 PM with the headline "‘My family is gone.’ Parents mourn four children killed in 100-mph Nevada collision."