LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — The funeral and burial expenses for four children killed in a head-on collision on I-75 Saturday have been fully paid.
30-year-old Catherine Greene from Owen County was driving northbound on I-75 Saturday with her four young children when a wrong-way driver collided head-on with her car.
Police were called to the accident at 12:23 p.m.
Catherine Greene, 11-year-old Santanna Greene, five-year-old Brayden Boxwell, and two-year-old Jack Greene were taken to the University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital where they died of their injuries, according to the Fayette County Coroner’s Office.
9-year-old Karmen Greene was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.
The driver of the wrong-way car, 38-year-old Jamaica Caudill, was also pronounced dead at the scene.
Father Jim Sichko, a priest with the Diocese of Lexington and a missionary of mercy commissioned by Pope Francis, said he was driving home to Richmond when he came across the accident and stopped to pray over victims and first responders.
“It’s just a tragic, tragic situation. It’s the most tragic situation I’ve seen in a long time,” Sichko said.
The coroner’s office released the identities of the victims Sunday morning.
Sichko said when he found out children were killed in the accident, he made a decision to offer an act of mercy.
Sichko has taken care of all the funeral and burial expenses for the children to help ease the financial burden on the Greene family as they grieve the loss of their loved ones.
“If this small act of mercy, if it’s able to relieve some of their burdens, then so be it. I mean, isn’t that what we’re called to do as individuals? We’re called to assist humanity,” Sichko said.
Since Sichko announced he would be paying for the expenses, some GoFundMe accounts have been created to collect donations with the same goal.
Sichko said collecting donations specifically for the funerals or burials is unnecessary because the expenses have already been paid for. Instead, Sichko said he encourages those wishing to help to consider different ways the funds might be used to help the community.
Funeral arrangements are pending and will be announced in the upcoming days.
