SAN ANTONIO — Jairo Lerma said he ignored the call that ended up changing his life because he was at work giving a presentation.
Lerma said when he returned the call, he learned both his parents had been involved in a serious car crash far from home.
Investigators said a Houston man driving with five Hondurans in his car was trying to evade law enforcement.
They said the sedan tried to pass a big rig in a no passing zone and slammed into the Lerma’s car.
Trying to stifle a soft sob, Lerma said “When he started asking me questions about my parents, like who was traveling in that vehicle I knew that it was not something good.”
The personal nature of the questions, Lerma said, spoke to the serious nature of the crash.
“He was starting to ask me date of birth and full name and I'm like 'what's going on?' like just tell me. Just tell me! And he told me the two people traveling in this vehicle are deceased,” Lerma said.
The bereft son said Jose and Isabel Lerma were driving from their home in Georgia, headed for an annual holiday season visit to Mexico.
Wednesday, on Highway 57 west of Batesville, they died in a fiery inferno. Lerma, who has four siblings, said he was the first to learn of their loss. “At that time I felt like the whole world just...” Lerma said, unable to finish the thought.
Lerma said the deputy who delivered the news only provided a few basic facts. He said it wasn’t until he started searching the internet for news that he learned the awful truth.
“He never told me the car got on fire! Nothing! I started learning more about the accident by me searching things on the news, on Twitter, things like that, unfortunately,” Lerma said, adding that when he stumbled upon images of the car on fire, he was devastated. “It was just really hard to see something like that."
Lerma said he is trying to cope with the aftermath of what is an unfair loss.
“When I found out they were being chased, it just made me mad. It made me mad that the officer could have done something to avoid this. Law enforcement could have done something," Lerma said, emphatically, adding “They could have used a different technique. We have so much technology. They could have sent a helicopter. They could have stopped the chase. Why chase someone at such a high rate of speed? When someone is trying to get away from someone they're not going to follow the rules! They're going to find a way to get out,” Lerma said.
Lerma said he traveled from his home in Georgia to San Antonio to meet with the Mexican Consul, to try and speed up the process of returning his parents home to Mexico for burial.
“We're going to be taking my parents back to Mexico to give them a proper burial and it's super expensive because we have to hire three different services. One is to prepare the bodies here in the United States. Another service is to transport them to Mexico and there are certain certifications they have to take, plus the funeral service in Mexico, so we're just not ready,” Lerma said.
There is a verified GoFundMe effort underway to help the family.
Lerma said he does take a tiny bit of comfort knowing that his parents died together.
“They left together and I think if one had survived that would have been super hard. I just hope and pray that it was a quick impact to be honest with you", Lerma said, adding that his mother’s abundant faith sustains him.
“My mom, she was a true Christian. My Dad would visit church. He was not dedicated. My Mom was a woman of prayer,” Lerma said, trying not to cry and adding “That's something that I'm going to miss! Because she would push me. She would say ‘hey, you're not reading the word of God. You're not spending time with God’ and she was the one that kept on pushing me to become a better person, a better believer, so this is definitely going to be hard.”
Lerma, who said navigating a complex burial process while grieving is hard, has advice for everyone. “Make sure you show your love for the people you're with because you never know when the last time you will see them.”