‘We forgive him’: Grieving couple forgives driver after street racing crash kills unborn son

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. (ANF/Gray News) — A Georgia couple is offering a message of forgiveness after police arrested a driver accused of killing their unborn child during a summer street racing crash.

Symeon Izaguirre and his pregnant wife, Samantha, were involved in a reported serious crash in June, where a speeding driver collided with their vehicle.

According to the Gwinnett County Police Department, Dorin Lupas was traveling at 94 mph on June 20 when he crashed into Izaguirre’s vehicle.

Gwinnett County authorities said Lupas was recently arrested on charges of feticide by vehicle, racing and serious injury by vehicle.

For the Izaguirres, the crash shattered what was supposed to be the happiest chapter of their lives.

The couple had married in August of last year, and Symeon Izaguirre had just started a new career. They were looking forward to welcoming their baby boy, Zion.

“Everything was coming together for our kid,” Symeon Izaguirre said. “It seems like at the peak of everything, it kind of all fell apart.”

The couple was traveling to a retail store when the collision occurred.

“Out of nowhere, when we were turning, a car just came,” Symeon Izaguirre recalled. “I remember my wife seeing it first and then her just saying, ‘Babe,’ and she braced herself and she put herself on me, and then we got hit pretty hard.”

Symeon Izaguirre woke up in the hospital severely disoriented and badly hurt. Samantha suffered catastrophic injuries, breaking nearly all of her limbs, he said.

Amid his own recovery, Symeon Izaguirre received the devastating news that doctors could not save their baby.

“They operated on her, told me that the child didn’t survive the crash,” Symeon Izaguirre said. “They had to take her out of the car, drill into the car, and take the baby out. He didn’t make it.”

Following a months-long police investigation, Gwinnett County authorities filed charges against Lupas.

Symeon Izaguirre has had to pause working to provide full-time care for Samantha, who remains in a wheelchair.

But despite the tragedy and the grueling road ahead, the grieving father is choosing forgiveness over anger.

“There are people out on the road who have their lives, and they can change in an instant, and ours has changed in an instant,” Symeon Izaguirre said. “We forgive him, and I don’t wish anything bad upon him.”

Now, he hopes their story serves as a stark warning to drivers who choose to race or speed on public streets.

“If you want to go fast, go to the track. There’s a place for everything,” Symeon Izaguirre said. “But don’t put other people at risk.”

The Izaguirres have a GoFundMe to help with mounting medical expenses, including upcoming surgeries for Samantha.