‘I’m Hurting’: Family mourning 10-year-old Maricopa girl killed in crash on SR 347

MARICOPA, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) - On Wednesday evening, Celia Fernandez said she lost the reason for living. She said doctors declared her 10-year-old daughter, Suheiry, brain dead. “I’m very angry. I’m hurting. She’s only 10. She didn’t even live her life,” said Celia.

On Sunday evening, Celia said she was at her Maricopa home while she waited for her brother, mother, sister and daughter to arrive from Chandler. She said they were traveling in two separate vehicles on State Route 347. She did not specify which car her sister and daughter were in.

Celia received a call that her brother’s car had stopped working. Before she left to help them, Celia talked to Suheiry on the phone. “Just before I hung up on them, I told my daughter, ‘Get in the car. You’ll be safe, so you don’t get hit.’ And one minute after she entered the car, she didn’t have time to put her seatbelt on. She was hit,” said Celia.

Celia said the vehicle Suheiry was in spun, and her daughter was ejected. Before Celia got to the scene, Suheiry was rushed to the hospital. Celia said her daughter’s heart stopped twice.

Her brother, sister and mother were also seriously hurt. All of them were hospitalized. Celia said her brother was released, but her mother and sister remain in the hospital. They’re expected to be OK but have a long road to recovery. The family has a GoFundMe to help cover hospital and funeral costs.

Celia said the family decided it was best not to keep Suheiry on life support. Instead, they plan to donate her organs so she can live through other people.

Now, Celia wants to raise awareness of the speeding she says is an issue on SR 347. “It’s not safe. It’s dangerous. Nobody cares how fast they’re driving,” she said. “There were many times where I was close to getting hit with my children.”

Arizona’s Family contacted the Arizona Department of Public Safety regarding speeding concerns and received a statement.

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