Alexus Lee and John ‘JR’ Collins’s four-year-old boy is struggling to understand that his parents are gone.
A family is left without their loved ones after two car crashes in Louisiana took the lives of a couple just hours apart.
They are leaving behind their four-year-old boy, who their grandmother has said is struggling to accept losing his parents.
Alexus Lee, 25 and John Jr Collins, 35, looked forward to a shared future. They talked about getting married in February 2026 and had bought a house together to raise Gabriel.
On May 16, their lives were taken by two different car accidents.
Lee lost control of her SUV on Plank Road in Zachary, according to Louisiana State Police. Officials have said the young woman died because she had not put on her seatbelt when the accident happened.
Officials say the victim died at the scene which was around 2am and Lee’s fiancé was notified by investigators and went to the scene.
Police claim JR lost control of his car at around 3.45am, moments before heading to his partner’s car crash. The driver of the tanker truck was moving on Plank Road when he struck a tree near Clinton and was later found dead after being ejected from his truck.
Troopers added that like Lee, Collins wasn’t wearing his seat belt.
Arthur, Collins’ father, opened up in a sad interview about how the tragedy has emptied him inside.
I am in love with them. I’m going to miss them both and I will try my best to keep going,” he sobbed to WAFB.
Even now, Collins’ mother Sandra talks openly about how much love her son had for his wife-to-be.
She said: “He cared for Alexus and everyone who knew her.” If you knew her, you loved her.”
Sandra later explained how their son Gabriel wasn’t able to fully grasp that his parents had died after what happened to Lee and Collins.
He’s having a hard time understanding that we aren’t allowed to talk directly to angels. Even though we can’t see them, he knows they are sleeping in the presence of God.
“Both families will come together and we’ll support him however possible so he has a good life.”
According to Lee’s sister Dominique, the experience was not like losing anyone else; she said she felt, like a part of her was gone.
She was confident they had left the hospital feeling sure their child would be cared for well.
Live5news claimed that the families got together on Saturday (May 21) to share memories of those who had passed away.
At the same time, the state police have said they are still investigating the two crashes.