PLANTATION, Fla. – Maria Cid is asking for prayers for her family after her 3-year-old grandson was killed in a fiery crash early Thursday morning.
“It is a feeling that is undescribable,” she told Local 10 News on Friday. “It feels as if your soul has been ripped.”
Relatives say James Rocco Oizan Chapón was like a tornado, a ball of energy who lit up the room.
Cid woke up Thursday to a frantic call from her daughter Yasmin.
“My daughter called screaming, ‘My baby, my baby, my baby is dying! My baby is dying’’” Cid recalled.
Cid said her grandson and her daughter’s boyfriend were the ones that died when the black 2014 Mercedes-Benz crashed on North University Drive near Northwest Fifth Street.
Cid said Yasmin had gotten into an argument with her boyfriend, Ryan Yates and that he grabbed 3-year-old James and drove away.
Police said it was a single-car crash. The driver apparently lost control.
A woman who witnessed the crash said she then heard screams.
“I heard two booming sounds right after the crash and then a woman screaming for her baby,” said Elizabeth Velasco, who lives nearby. “She was like, ‘My baby! My baby!’ I actually started crying when I heard that because I felt really helpless.”
Plantation police have not confirmed if speed was a factor in the crash. Local 10 News cameras captured car parts that could be seen scattered across the street.
Police continue to investigate the cause of the crash.
A GoFundMe page has been created to help pay for James’ funeral and memorial service.