The family of a Lake Elsinore couple who were among four people tragically killed in a wrong-way crash in Chino Hills over the weekend is mourning two loving parents.
One of the couple's last memories together was celebrating Gideon Mbatha's 42nd birthday, planned by his wife Ruth. Just hours later, on their way home to Lake Elsinore, the couple was killed in a fiery wrong-way crash on the 71 Freeway.
“It makes me very sad because they were celebrating – because they were looking into their future,” Horelia Kuria, Gideon Mbatha’s sister, said. Kuria said her brother was a hardworking aeronautics engineer and a loving father of three.
The children are 3, 8 and 12 years old. Kuria vows to care for and raise them like her own.
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“They were settling in to raise their kids – that was their bottom line. They did it halfway; we have to do the rest for them,” she said.
The two younger kids can’t fully comprehend their parents won't be coming back. But for 12-year-old Nathaniel, the loss hits hard.
“The most thing I'm feeling is just sadness,” he said.
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Nathaniel said he also feels a big void. “When I look through my homework and I realize I haven't done something, I remember them because they're always tough on my homework,” he said.
Now that the couple is gone, the community is coming together to help the family. One next-door neighbor set up an online crowdfunding campaign to raise money for the children.
Kuria wants to pay off the mortgage and help the kids reach their dreams.
Nathaniel wants to be an NBA player some day and says even though his parents are no longer here, he knows they are watching from up above.
“I really want to make them proud. I want to have good grades in school. I want to make them feel proud of me for awards I get and not get into trouble and stuff because I know they wouldn't like that,” Nathaniel said.
The early morning crash was on the southbound 71 Freeway near Central Avenue in Chino Hills. Four people, including the couple and two people in the other car, died at the scene in southwest San Bernardino County.
