N.J. Mom Who Lost Fiancé and 2 Kids in Crash Is ‘Suffering So Much,’ Brother Says

Loved ones will gather this week to pay tribute to a former New Jersey police officer and his two young children who died together in a wrong-way crash.

On Friday, 36-year-old Andrew Benavente and his children — Andrew Jr. "A.J.," 13, and Madelyn, 5 — were killed when a vehicle crossed double yellow lines and crashed into their pickup truck, causing it to catch fire, Andover Township police said.

At the time, Digna Melendez-Benavente, Andrew's fiancée and the children's mother, was home awaiting their arrival before the parents' weekly date night.

"She's been crying nonstop," Digna's brother, Edwin Melendez, tells The Messenger about what his sister has experienced since the accident. "We're trying to keep her with family, not alone."

With his younger brother and Andrew's brother, Edwin has taken up the responsibility of planning funerals for his niece, nephew and brother-in-law.

A memorial is scheduled for Thursday afternoon at Megaro Memorial Home in New Jersey, followed by mass on Friday morning at St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church.

To help with expenses, Edwin created a GoFundMe campaign that has since raised over $89,000 from around 1,400 donors. It's a response that Edwin says has left him "incredibly grateful" — and one he did not expect.

"The GoFundMe came from a place of hopelessness because, honestly, I didn't know what to do," Edwin recalls. "When I found out what happened, I went straight to my sister, but I didn't know how to do anything for her."

He continues: "She's suffering so much, and I was trying to find an idea, and I thought other people that loved them would want a way to do something, too."

When asked how he will cope with the tragedy once the funerals are over, Edwin says he is not yet thinking about what's next, but instead taking things as they come.

Today, he is focused on supporting his sister and mother.

"My sister ... she's just she's not doing well, and I've tried to put this stress [on myself]," says Edwin, who lives with his family in Springfield, N.J.

"She hasn't been home; I mean, she can't go home," he continues. "She's staying at my mother's, and I think she's going to stay there for a good while. But my mother, being the grandmother, is having a really difficult time, as well."

Bruce Cseh, the 22-year-old driver of the vehicle that crashed into the family's truck, was pronounced dead at Morristown Hospital shortly after the accident, per the Andover Township police.

Edwin says his family may get more information about what exactly occurred leading up to the crash.

But for now, the only certain thing is that two families lost loved ones that day.

"This is a tragedy all around," he tells The Messenger. "He was a kid, 22 years old. He crossed double lines and killed my 5-year-old niece, 13-year-old nephew, and my sister's love of her life, leaving her without a family."

"But I also know that another family is also suffering the loss of a son, possibly a brother, a husband," Edwin continues. "And I know there's a lot of pain to go around."