Emotional vigil held for mother killed by enraged driver at Haverstraw 7-Eleven
HAVERSTRAW, New York (WABC) -- The crippling pain nearly brought Melissa Castillo DeLoatch's mother to her knees. So loved ones, first responders, total strangers all gathered together to hold each other up.
"It just shows you how precious life is, how in one second, any decision you make can not only affect your life, but also affect everybody else's life," said the victim's brother-in-law, Thomas Smith.
CeFaan Kim was at the vigil:
What do you say to a man who just watched his wife and her six kids get run over twice - on purpose? Everyone in the Haverstraw community was affected on Wednesday in the 7/11 parking lot, when witnesses say DeLoatch's husband asked a man not to smoke his cigarette near his kids.
Police say the man then deliberately ran over the family, backed up, and did it again. The family says that DeLoatch died trying to protect her kids, throwing herself in front of a stroller. She was pregnant with her seventh child.
Among the children injured - 11 months old, two, three, five, seven and the oldest is 10 years old.
Family members say the children are now out of the hospital. The last two kids came home on Sunday.
The suspect is due back in court on Tuesday.
----------
* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts
