Two young sisters were riding to church with their godmother Sunday morning when their car crashed on Interstate 95.
Two-year-old Akeena Avanel Bennett was killed. Keanna Ariel Bennett, 5, remained on life support Monday at Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, their mother said.
Keanna was “not good,” Annette Bennett said Monday. “We’re basically keeping her [on] life support.”
Bennett established a GoFundMe page for her daughters on which she wrote, “Our children are gone. We are totally broken.”
In one of the photographs on the page, Keanna has her arm around her little sister’s shoulder. The smiling girls are wearing matching navy striped dresses decorated with lemons and ribbons in their hair.
The girls’ godmother, Rashida Raby, 34, of Deerfield Beach, was taking them to the Salvation Army in Fort Lauderdale for a Christian worship service, Bennett said.
The 11 a.m. service is held at the community center, at 100 SW Ninth Ave. in Fort Lauderdale, the organization said.
Raby’s 2014 Toyota Corolla and a 2019 Kia Forte collided about 10:45 a.m. on the south side of I-95 just north of Sample Road, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
Bennett said she and her husband Keane Bennett were in New York to attend a wedding when they were called about the crash. The family lives in Deerfield Beach.
Raby was “pretty shaken up, too,” Bennett said of her daughters’ godmother, who is not a blood relative. Raby was also taken to a hospital, FHP said. Her condition was not available Monday.
There were no child safety seats in the Toyota, FHP Lt. Alvaro Feola said Monday.
“I’m not sure why there were no child seats in the car,” Bennett said. “We definitely use them.”
The driver of the Kia was identified by FHP as Zachary Scott, 26, of Illinois. He was taken to Broward Health North in Deerfield Beach. On Monday, the hospital did not have him listed as a patient.
The crash remains under investigation, Feola said. Any charges will not be filed until the case is presented to the State Attorney’s Office.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
ljtrischitta@sunsentinel.com, 954-356-4233 or Twitter @LindaTrischitta
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2-year-old killed, 5-year-old on life support after I-95 crash