GoFundMe page says 6 killed in Lawrence crash drove from Florida, had 35 minutes left
After a 20-hour drive, six family members were 35 minutes from their destination in Topeka when they collided head on with a GMC.
Both cars caught on fire just outside of Lawrence. The family’s Ford Fusion entirely burned, killing everyone inside.
Relatives said the victims were 29-year-old Anico Kirk, her three children 11-year-old Yamel, 9-year-old Umariell and 4-year-old Nay’Layah, Kirk’s Brother Maurice Ross, 27, and family friend Felecia Harvey, 49, were killed, according to the Lawrence Journal World.
A GoFundMe page set up for the family’s funeral expenses has raised more than $12,000 in two days. The goal is $15,000.
According to the GoFundMe page Kirk and her children recently moved to Florida. Ross and Harvey had flown South for a visit and the six were driving back to Topeka together so Kirk and her children could visit family and friends.
The driver of the GMC was seriously injured.
Around 6:40 p.m. Thursday the family crashed at mile marker 385 of U.S. Highway 40, just west of the interchange with U.S. 59, or Iowa Street, said Douglas County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Jenn Hethcoat in an email to The Star. U.S. 40 and K-10 run concurrently west of Iowa Street.
Police have not yet released details about what caused the crash.
“This tragedy has taken a huge toll on this family. Emotionally, mentally and financially. No one is ever prepared for such devastation,” wrote Kristie Norton, the organizer of the GoFundMe page. “The anguish of having to put a loved one to rest multiplied by 6.“
In a Facebook post Monday the children’s school, Purcell Elementary School in Mulberry Florida, announced that two students and their mother had died in a crash. In the post, the school offered grief counseling to any students who need it.
“We ask that you keep their friends, their 4th and 5th grade teachers and school staff in prayer as well,” the post said. “These girls will surely be missed by so many.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
