4-Yr Old Boy Left Orphaned After Parents Die On Same Road, Hours Apart

An engaged couple from Baton Rouge in the US tragically died in separate car crashes just hours apart, leaving their 4-year-old son, orphaned.

Alexus Lee, 25, and her fiancé, John Collins, 35, had just bought a house ahead of their February 2026 wedding when both were killed in freak crashes less than two hours apart last week according to Daily Mail.

The police report indicated that Lee was driving when she lost control of her Toyota Highlander shortly after 2 am.

Her SUV crashed into a culvert and flipped. The mother-of-one and teacher at STEAM Academy died at the scene.

When investigators notified her fiancé, Collins, he left to go to the crash site. On his way there, he lost control of his Chevrolet Camaro car.

Police say Collins was driving to the scene around 3:45 am when he failed to complete a curve, ran off the left side of the road, and struck a tree. He also died at the scene.

Neither Lee nor Collins was wearing a seatbelt, according to police. Investigations into both crashes are ongoing.

'I love them and I'm gonna miss both of them, and I'm gonna find the strength to go ahead,' Collins' father, Arthur Collins, was quoted by WAFB.

Holding back tears, the families of Lee and Collins reflected on the lives of the couple, whose love story ended too soon. Collins' parents held hands as they spoke of the pair's whirlwind romance.

He loved Alexus as well as everybody else who knew her. To know her was to love her,' Collins' mother, Sandra Collins, said.

'Losing Lexus just different. It was a different feeling, and it's like I know a part of me gone,' said Alexus's sister, Dominque Lee, through tears.

Now, the couple's 4-year-old son is left orphaned.

'He understands what happened, and he's just having a little problem comprehending that we can't talk to them. We can't see them, but he understands that they are asleep and are with God,' Sandra said.

Despite the heartbreaking loss, their families say their love lives on through Gabriel.

'Even though they left a child behind, we have a great support system. The two families will blend, and we will do whatever it takes to give him a good life,' Collins' father said.

A joint celebration of life for the couple happened on Wednesday.