Photo: Gracie Contreras/Facebook
Gracie Contreras was known as the life of the party.
Often seen singing, laughing and smiling, the warm-hearted California mother of three was a bright light for her loved ones, especially when they were feeling down.
The Covina school bus driver, 52, found love again when she reconnected with her high school sweetheart, Eddie Contreras, 55, marrying him several years ago.
“They loved each other dearly,”Gracie’s brother, Octavio Medina, told theSan Gabriel Valley Tribune.
Early Saturday morning, their blissful life came to a tragic end when a carjacking suspect fleeing police in a high-speed chase crashed into their vehicle, killing Gracie and Eddie, theSan Gabriel Valley Tribunereports.
The crash left her son Jacob Contreras, 13, in critical condition.
“We’re just praying and trying to support our little nephew [who’s] fighting for his life,” Medina told local station KABC.
On the night of the crash, Gracie and Eddie had just picked up Jacob, who’d gone to Knott’s Scary Farm and then to a friend’s house, theSan Gabriel Valley Tribunereports.
While they were heading home, police allege a carjacking suspect blew through the intersection at Glendora and Cameron avenues, theSan Gabriel Valley Tribune,CBS2/KCAL9andKABCreport.
The couple was thrown from the vehicle, theSan Gabriel Valley Tribunereports.
A family member told theSan Gabriel Valley Tribunethat all three were thrown from the car.
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Eddie died at the scene. Gracie was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Jacob remains in critical condition from injuries including a fractured pelvis, a broken leg, facial fractures, and a punctured lung, theSan Gabriel Valley Tribunereports.
The boy underwent surgery on Monday and faces a long recovery.
West Covina police gave chase when they spotted the Jeep Patriot at 2 a.m., theSan Gabriel Valley Tribunereports.
They chased the alleged carjacker for about a mile when the Jeep Patriot collided with the Contreras’s vehicle, Medina said, theSan Gabriel Valley Tribunereports.
The West Covina Police Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for information.
It is unclear if the suspect had been hospitalized or arrested.
Gracie’s friends will always remember her for her warm personality.
“When she wasn’t there and she’d be absent at work, I’d miss her presence,” her friend and co-worker Pearl Shepard told CBS2/KCAL9. “If you were having a bad day, you’d just be near her, and you could just rub on her happiness.”
AGoFundMehas been set up to help pay funeral expenses for Gracie and Edward.
source: people.com
