Adorable little boy left orphaned after parents both die in TWO freak accidents just hours apart
An engaged couple from Baton Rouge tragically died in separate car crashes just hours apart, leaving their 4-year-old son, Gabriel, without his parents.
Alexus Lee, 25, and her fiancé, John 'JR' 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 early Friday morning.
According to Louisiana State Police, Lee was driving north on LA 67 near Lemon Road in Zachary 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 in Clinton 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.
Police say Collins was driving south on LA 67 near Idlewild Road 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, told 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.
Lee was a recent Southern University graduate who taught at East Feliciana STEAM Academy. Collins was a truck driver who loved sports cars, WAFB reported.
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 is scheduled for Wednesday.
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