Menifee residents stood by candlelight remembering three young softball players and their mother, and there was a palpable sense of sorrow in the air. On the way back from a road trip, Olivia, 12, Emmalynn, 11, Gianna, 8, and their mother Karly Perez passed away.
“Sometimes you feel like you’re going to get through it and other times you have a hole in your heart that you just can’t explain,” grandfather Stephan Grande stated.
The girl’s grandparents claimed they felt supported and were able to control their emotions because of the love that the community had shown them.
“You know you have all this support and it makes a big difference,” Grande stated.
The family was traveling back from Texas when they decelerated in a road construction zone in Arizona. The truck transporting asphalt rear-ended the family, which included Perez’s friend and her son.
“My sister was full of life and stronger than me,” Perez’s brother stated.
The uncle of the children said he will never forget the how their feisty little personalities warmed everyone’s heart.
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“I’m going to miss the way Gianna said she was smarter than me because she read and I didn’t,” he stated. “I’m going to miss Emmalyn’s artistic abilities and dance moves she always wanted to show me. And how about Olivia’s TikToks every single morning while getting ready for school? Most of all, I’m going to miss their smiles and how they made me feel great about myself.”
To assist the girls’ father with the unforeseen expenses of their funeral, the Perez family is organizing a fundraiser. The girls’ softball community has already extended assistance.
“Their pictures are never coming off the walls,” Grande stated. “They’ll always be in our hearts.”
