Unbearable heartbreak for a community after a young couple's three children were killed by a suspected drunk driver. It happened in Oxon Hill, Maryland on Sunday, just a few hours after the family attended church Sunday evening.
"This is a painful, big loss for the whole family," cried Maria Guzman in Spanish, barely able to speak through tears about what happened to the Meija family. The parents, Juanita and Alexis, in Prince George's Hospital with severe injuries, may not yet know what happened to their three children.
On Sunday at 9:40 p.m., along Indian Head Highway, their sedan was either at a stop or slowing down for traffic near a signal light when it was struck from behind by a speeding pickup truck, driven by a suspected drunk driver.
Investigators told WUSA9's Scott Broom that there were no skid marks to indicate the pickup truck driver had tried to stop. Charges are pending, awaiting toxicology tests.
The truck landed on top of the back of the car killing all three children, five-year-old twins Alexander and Rosalie, and baby Isaac, born 13 months ago.
The Mejias were part of the church family at Iglesia de Dios de la Profecia in Glen Burnie, Maryland and had attending that night. Guzman was the children's Sunday School Teacher.
"The kids arrived kissing me, hugging me, I never imagined this great pain," said Guzman. She thanked God that the parents survived but said, "It is painful, but God is the one who gives strength to the family."
The Mejias live in Pimmit Hills area of Falls Church, Virginia in a home with Alexis Mejia’s parents. Their next-door neighbor said that the children were so sweet and would call her grandma. The neighbors are heartbroken.
"We're here to support them in everything they need. We"vet known then for a couple years, they're a great family. They're well-known around the area. We're really sad for what happened," said neighbor Luis Diaz.
"It makes me just tear up like. Something like that would happen," said neighbor Edith Tapia.
The five-year-old twins Alexander and Rosalie were in kindergarten at Lemon Road Elementary School. Parents of some of the children’s classmates have been posting the GoFundMe account set up by a family friend.
One of the moms told WUSA9 that she could not speak publicly about the tragedy yet because they haven’t even told their own children and frankly, she said, "We don’t know how to do that."