New Details Released In Fatal Duluth Crash; $72K+ Raised For Victims

DULUTH, GA — Thousands of dollars have been raised, and new details have been released, after a deadly Labor Day crash claimed the lives of five people and injured three others on the University Parkway westbound ramp that leads to Interstate 85 southbound.

Katie Gaitan Miranda, 17, of Atlanta, Ashley Gaitan, 16, of Atlanta, Coral Lorenzo-Rosario, 17, of Atlanta, Hung Nguyen, 18, of Lawrenceville and Abner Santana, 19, of Suwanee, all died Monday morning after their vehicle went over the wall of the raised ramp before falling onto the I-85 south collector-distributor to Pleasant Hill Road, Gwinnett County Police said Monday night.

Citing an accident report, Fox5Atlanta reported Wednesday the crash happened after two cars heading west on State Route 316 tried to merge onto I-85 south. The vehicles - which included a Toyota Tacoma driven by Nguyen - then crashed into one another after one or both of the drivers lost control.

The outlet reported the Tacoma rolled over the ramp wall and fell onto the collector-distributor lane for I-85 and Pleasant Hill. Fox 5 reported two of the people were ejected, and a third vehicle hit one of the people in the Tacoma.

A 20-year-old Hiram man was the driver of the second vehicle and broke multiple bones after he tried to get to a safe location by jumping over a wall and dropping 25 feet into a creek, Fox 5 reported.

Lakeside High Principal Dr. Susan Stoddard said in a letter to parents Tuesday Miranda, Gaitan and Lorenzo-Rosario were Lakeside students. Patch obtained a copy of the letter.

The five families fundraised to cover funeral costs, collecting more than $72,500 between them via GoFundMe.

"Coral was my best friend, a sister, a daughter and so much more. Coral's family and our entire community is grieving the loss of such an amazing person," Doris Batantou said in Lorenzo-Rosario's GoFundMe.

Lisseth Miranda and Yadicel Davila wrote on a GoFundMe for the Gaitan sisters that their legacies must forever be known.

"They didn’t deserve to go like this and this early in their lives," Miranda and Davila wrote.

The GoFundMe for Nguyen has closed since starting Tuesday. The fundraiser gathered at least $24,000 for Nguyen's funeral.

Santana's GoFundMe had secured nearly $23,800 as of 2 p.m. Thursday.