NJ park play area dedicated to Filipino family with 5 members killed in car crash

A splash pad in Teaneck, New Jersey’s Votee Park was dedicated to the Trinidad family. YUGGLER

TEANECK, New Jersey – Residents of this township dedicated a play area in its Votee Park to the members of a Filipino family who were killed last year in a horrific accident in a Delaware highway.

Local officials and community residents assembled on a recent Sunday morning to deliver moving speeches and dedicate a new splash pad in memory of Audie Trinidad and his four daughters.

Audie Trinidad and his four daughters died in a car crash in July 2018. INQUIRER FILE

They perished in July last year when a motorist veered across a Delaware highway and crashed into their minivan. The family was driving home from a vacation,

Audie Trinidad, 61, and his four daughters — Kaitlyn, 20, Danna, 17, and 13-year-old twins Melissa and Allison — were killed. Only their mother, Mary Rose Ballocanag, 52, survived. She underwent several surgeries and is still recovering from her injuries.

The fatal accident shocked and saddened Teaneck residents. A memorial was set up at the Roman Catholic Church of St. Anastasia, where Audie had been an usher and where the family regularly worshiped.

A vigil at Votee Park drew teenagers from all of the area schools to mourn their friends. A GoFundMe drive launched to support Ballocanag, who had lost her entire family, raised thousands of dollars, according to a NorthJersey.com report.

Audie Trinidad and Mary Rose Ballocanag emigrated from the Philippines in the 1980s and met in New York. Trinidad served in the U.S. Navy and worked for the U.S. Postal Service. Ballocanag is a nurse in New York City.

Alvin Hubbard III, who authorities say drove the car that slammed into the Trinidads’ van, has been charged with three counts of vehicular assault and five counts of second-degree vehicular homicide, one count for each life lost. He was also charged with inattentive driving, driving across a median and failing to obey traffic devices. The criminal case is still being prosecuted.