Relatives of an Arizona family of four killed in a head-on crash near Heber on Labor Day have spoken of their grief and the lives they shared.
Kiah Jae Begaye and Giovanni Uballe Huerta, both 26, died alongside their two young children when their Nissan collided with a pickup truck on State Route 260 in Navajo County on 7 September.
The crash happened at about 12.30pm near Camp Shadow Pines, a few miles west of Heber. The two children, Dakota, four, and Malakai, two, were travelling with their parents after a visit to Begaye’s grandparents.
According to court documents, the driver of the pickup, Jesse David Lovato, 21, of Los Lunas, New Mexico, told investigators he had fallen asleep while driving back from Phoenix and woke when the vehicles collided.
Lovato was arrested and booked on four counts of manslaughter and two counts of aggravated assault. A Navajo County Superior Court judge set bail at $5 million. The allegations have not been tested in court.
The four occupants of the Nissan died at the scene, while two people in the pickup were flown to hospitals in the Phoenix area with serious injuries, authorities said.
Family remembers Arizona crash victims
Veronica Uballe, Giovanni’s mother, said the loss of four relatives at once had been almost impossible to comprehend.
“It’s hard enough losing one person. We lost four at one time,” she said.
Begaye and Huerta were described by relatives as high-school sweethearts whose relationship was built on affection, shared adventures and a close bond with their children.
“She guided him and took him on adventures that he would have never done before and vice versa,” Begaye’s mother, Chrissy Kaibetoney, said. “He provided the love that she needed.”
Veronica Uballe said the couple’s connection was clear in the way they joked and played with their children.
She recalled that Malakai loved monster trucks, while Dakota was fond of Hot Wheels and Spider-Man. Kaibetoney said her grandchildren were always eager to spend time with her.
“I would have to sneak out of the house because they always wanted to go home with me,” she said.
Begaye had been preparing to teach her first sewing class for young girls at the Black Girl Brown Girl Collective, a local non-profit organisation, on the evening of the crash. Her mother and aunt said she had been excited about sharing her skills and encouraging the next generation.
“Everything that she did, she just brought it to life,” Begaye’s aunt, Latonia Kaibetoney, said. “She was very loving, and it showed in everything that she did.”
The families say they are trying to remember the couple and their children for how they lived rather than the circumstances of their deaths.
“Something that comforts me knowing that this happened, the way that it did, is a majority of us take this journey by ourselves alone,” Latonia Kaibetoney said. “She’s there with her soulmate and the two little ones that they created.”
Relatives have launched a fundraiser to help cover funeral and burial expenses for the family. The appeal says the cost of arranging four funerals at the same time has placed an overwhelming financial burden on those left behind.
