Woman seeks help after 'absolute tragedy' on I-49 kills her three siblings, injures mom (2024)

Katie Simmons DeRouen was at a Christmas party on Friday night when she got the call. Her mom and three youngest siblings had been involved in a bad wreck.

DeRouen rushed to three hospitals that night in an effort to locate her loved ones. Instead of providing comfort, however, she was tasked with identifying bodies.

Twenty-year-old Lindy Rae Simmons, 17-year-old Christopher Simmons and 15-year-old Kamryn Simmons were dead. Their mother, Dawn Simmons, was in critical condition and unaware of the devastation that awaited her. The fifth person in the vehicle, Christopher Simmons' 16-year-old girlfriend, was also in critical but stable condition.

"Losing one would have been tragic," DeRouen said."There are no words to describe losing all three babies of the family. We all have their gifts wrapped under the tree."

DeRouen shared a heart wrenching account of the Interstate 49 crash that forever changed her family's life in a series of public online posts over the weekend.

Lindy Simmons was driving her mom, sister, brother and brother's girlfriend back home to Jeanerette after a basketball game in Monroe on Friday. Christopher Simmons played for Acadiana Christian School, which is undefeated this season for the first time in school history, according to DeRouen.

At about 9 p.m. Friday, a pickup truck traveling the wrong way on I-49 near La. 29 in St. Landry Parish slammed head on into the Simmons' SUV.

Louisiana State Police identified 54-year-old John Lundy of Georgia as the driver of the 2005 Chevrolet Colorado pickup traveling in the wrong direction of the southbound lanes of the interstate. Lundy, the only occupant in the truck, was pronounced dead at the scene; it is unknown if he was wearing a seatbelt.

Lindy Simmons, who was wearing a seatbelt in her2017 Cadillac XT5 SUV, was also pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.

DeRouen would find out this information in bits and pieces while frantically trying to locate the vehicle's other occupants.

She started at Ochsner Lafayette General Medical Center, where her mom was fighting for her life in the intensive care unit. She and her family could not immediately locate Kamryn and Christopher Simmons because they had been identified as Jane and John Doe upon arrival at hospitals in Opelousas and Bunkie.

"I drove what seemed like 97 million hours to Bunkie," DeRouen said. "I did not feel like I was in control of my body as I walked into the third hospital of the night."

While identifying the bodies of her youngest two siblings at the two rural hospitals, DeRouen learned that Lindy Simmons died before emergency responders could extract her from the vehicle.

DeRouen is the second born of nine to Ray and Dawn Simmons of Jeanerette.

"We went from our 'big family of nine kids' to six kids in the blink of an eye," DeRouen said. "I don't know how we will ever move on or recover from this."

DeRouen startedan online fundraiserSaturday as a way to make this "even.000000001% better" for her parents in the "very dark days to come." More than $250,000 was raised on GoFundMe in 24 hours for the Simmons family.

Ray Simmons retired from Cleco a few weeks ago, and Dawn Simmons worked as a mail carrier before the crash.

"I don’t know any financial/insurance information at this moment, but I do know that my parents will be out of work for a very long time," DeRouen said. "I don’t know that they’ll ever be able to mentally handle going back to work."

Dawn Simmons suffered numerous injuries in the wreck, including a bleeding spleen, punctured lung, a carotid artery, two broken ankles, a broken leg and broken wrists. A doctor told the family that Dawn Simmons would not be able to walk "like normal" for about a year due to the severity of the bone fractures.

DeRouen said her mom has been asking about the condition of her three youngest children but will not be told of the devastation until she leaves the hospital's intensive care unit.

"The absolute hardest part of this entire experience, next to losing my siblings, is knowing that my mom will be informed of this whenever she awakens," DeRouen said. "It is absolutely gut wrenching for me to share this and I am passionately sharing in hopes of raising awareness of how devastating getting behind the wheel intoxicated can be."

Impairment has not been confirmed by law enforcement, although toxicology samples were taken from both drivers at the scene. Results are still pending and the crash remains under investigation, according to a statement from Trooper Thomas Gossen, spokesperson for Louisiana State Police.

Another person died in a separate crash on I-49 in Avoyelles Parish Friday night in the aftermath of the one involving the Simmons family when a Texas man crashed into a stationary police vehicle that was diverting traffic from the interstate.

“In one night the lives of several families have changed forever due to preventable circ*mstances,” the police statement said.

DeRouen said she hasn't even been able to process another detail in the aftermath of the crash: that her 12-year-old daughter was supposed to be in the vehicle.

Instead of celebrating Christmas this week, DeRouen said, the family is planning three funerals.

"We are crushed. We are empty. We are devastated. We are in disbelief. We are hurting," DeRouen said. "We don’t know how we will ever find joy in anything again."