Funeral services were held Thursday for the victims who were killed in a wrong-way crash on the Palmetto Expressway over the weekend.
Briana Pacalagua, Daniela Marcano, Giancarlos Arias, Valeria Pena, and Valeria Caceres were killed after the Honda sedan they were traveling in was hit head-on by an Infinity sedan that was driving the wrong way, Florida Highway Patrol officials said.
The suspected driver of the Infinity, Maiky Simeon, survived the crash. At last word from investigators, Simeon was in the hospital and was charged with five counts of vehicular homicide on Monday.
Family members told NBC 6 that four of the five funeral services happened within a few hours of each other at the Caballero Rivero funeral home on SW 117th Avenue in Kendall Thursday afternoon.
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Close relatives of one of the victims, Valeria Pena, spoke to NBC 6 about the pain they’ve endured in the days since the tragedy.
“I’m her older sister, and I just miss her so much,” said Yurimia Pena, Valeria Pena’s sister. “She was like my first daughter. She was always with me. And I think she prepared me to be a mom.”
Valeria Pena’s father, Alvaro Pena, says the shirt he wore to Valeria’s funeral is the same shirt he wore to her first communion.
“She liked it a lot and she told me, ‘Dad, that shirt looks beautiful on you,’ when she made her first communion in Venezuela,” said Alvaro in Spanish. “And that's why I put it on again.”
Valeria Pena had only been in the U.S. for five years and was in her final year of high school.
Her father says she was an excellent student and talented gymnast who was pursuing her own American dream.
“You don't think it's going to be this way,” said Alvaro in Spanish. “One always wants achievements, triumphs, successes. But well, thanks to an unconscious person who takes five lives, we are now in this suffering. We are now in this pain.”
Five lives who family and friends say were on the way home from Giancarlos’ going away party.
Giancarlos was set to move to New York to study art on a scholarship.
“We've been getting a lot of support, a lot in this difficult moment," Yurimia said. "Not only my family, but all the families that are here together."
