In 2018, Alvin Hubbard III, 46, drove the wrong way down the road and killed four children and their father. Last month, he pled guilty for causing the crash, and he received just one year of probation.
“Today I feel like my family was killed all over again,” Mary Rose Ballocanag, the surviving family member, told WLNY.
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Audi Trinidad and His Four Daughters Killed in Tragic Wrong Way Car Crash
The family was driving back from vacation in Ocean City, Maryland when Hubbard’s Ford F-350 truck veered across the median and hit the family’s minivan. The crash killed Audi Trinidad, 61, and his daughters, Kaitlyn, 20, Danna, 17, and twins Allison and Melissa, 13. Hubbard did not suffer any major injuries.
Hubbard, who pleaded not guilty, could potentially go to jail if he violates his terms of probation. Judge Calivin L. Scott, Jr. gave Hubbard a sentence of 14 years on five misdemeanor counts of operating a motor vehicle causing death and two misdemeanor counts of vehicular assault. However, he suspended prison time for probation, ignoring prosecution’s request that Hubbard serve at least six months in prison, reports The News Journal.
During the trial, Hubbard’s attorney argued that the crash was a result of his client’s chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which caused Hubbard to pass out and cross the median. However, prosecutors argued that Hubbard was too tired and fell asleep at the wheel.
Ballocanag has not been able to fully use her arms or legs after the crash, though she’s had multiple surgeries. “My physical pain is nothing compared to the mental pain and anguish of losing my entire family,” she told the paper.
A GoFundMe page has been set-up to support Ballocanag.
In October, a Bronx street was renamed in honor of Audi Trinidad, who was a navy veteran. The street is now called Audi Trinidad Way.