The family of a woman and her son who died in a rollover crash on Interstate 195 in New Bedford, Massachusetts, on Friday is seeking answers clarifying what happened in the incident, having heard different accounts.
First responders encountered a tragic scene on Friday: an overturned vehicle, the bodies of two occupants who were ejected in the impact and many clothes and shoes scattered across the asphalt.
"Some of the belongings that flew away from the car were clothes that she had bought for her kids, and a person from the school department had donated new clothes so the children could begin school," said Larissa Colón, the victim's sister.
Gladys Colón, 35, and her son, 13-year-old Willniel Osorio-Colon, died in the crash on the eastbound side of I-195 near Exit 24A.
"We have heard different conversations, that there is a person arrested who had been zig-zagging behind the road where the accident, and he was the one who hit the back of the vehicle, causing it to roll over and crash," Larissa Colón said.
Three other people were injured in the crash, including a 15-year-old girl, the daughter of Gladys Colón.
Family members said the deceased mother earned a living working at a McDonald's and had been homeless for several months.
"She was going from hotel to hotel, sometimes staying in the car, and social services here in the New Bedford department knew about it," the woman's sister said.
Aida Kuilan, the mother of Gladys Colón, traveled from California to Massachusetts upon learning of her daughter’s and grandson’s deaths.
The Puerto Rican family was coming together to bury their loved ones.
The accident remained under investigation as of Monday.
