Lawyer: 5-year-old survivor of pond car crash awake and playing
The three surviving children involved in a car accident in St. Louis Park last month are showing signs of improvement, according to the lawyer for one of the families.
Five children were riding in the car driven by Marion Guerrido when it veered off a highway ramp into a pond on Nov. 21. Rescuers pulled the five children from the car.
All the children were hospitalized. Two of the children, Zenavia Rennie,5, and Alarious Coleman-Guerrido, 7, have since died.
Attorney Rick Petry, who represents the Guerrido family, said the three surviving children are making progress. He said Amani Coleman-Guerrido, 5, was up and walking when Petry visited the hospital on Tuesday afternoon.
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"I was so delighted to be able to have a conversation with him and play with him, and him play with his toys and know that he's out of the intensive care unit and just in a pediatric unit," Petry said. "He is doing very well."
Petry said Aliyana Rennie, 1, is also doing better.
"Because of her age and size, they're moving her along slower than her older brother," Petry said. "It's my understanding that they stopped the sedation today and they expect that she'll come out of the effects of that tomorrow, so she'll be awake tomorrow."
He said that Zarihana Rennie, 6, is also showing signs of improvement.
Funeral services for Zenavia Rennie are set for Saturday, Petry said, and a private funeral is scheduled for Alarious Coleman-Guerrido on Sunday.
A fund set up to cover medical and funeral costs for the children has raised about $20,000 as of Tuesday night, Petry said.
"Everybody here would say thank you for all the prayers, all the loving and kind thoughts, and all the support that's been sent to this family," Petry said. "It's been absolutely amazing to have these kids alive and continue to make this progress -- those prayers and kind thoughts have certainly made all the difference in the world."
The Minnesota State Patrol continues to investigate the cause of the crash, but according to a court document filed last week, one of the officials reconstructing the accident told investigators that a preliminary investigation shows evidence that Guerrido over-corrected on the highway ramp.