Families planning funerals hampered by coronavirus outbreak

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Families who have lost loved ones in the past few weeks are struggling to have memorial services due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Losing someone at the hands of a suspected drunk driver is tough any time --- but these days families like the Medina family in DeKalb County say they can't even get closure.

“There’s nothing to even help us cope with this or say goodbye,” said April Medina, whose daughter Reyna, 20, was killed Saturday night when a suspected drunk driver crashed into her on Interstate 20 near Glenwood Avenue.

The coronavirus crisis is affecting how anyone can bury a loved one.

“Everyone deserves to have their mother’s love, and someone got drunk and took that away from my grandbabies,” Medina told Channel 2’s Matt Johnson.

A lot of Medina's family lives out of state and can't travel because of coronavirus. Plans for a large service are also on hold.

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“We’re scared that if we have a memorial service and take the children and people are coming from everywhere, then we might be exposing the kids to something,” Medina said.

John Abernathy with Ward's Funeral Home in Gainesville told Johnson that this type of situation is now not uncommon.

“The families that I have come in contact with, I tell them unfortunately we’re going to have to have limitations on what we can do,” Abernathy said.

April Medina said if she can't share hugs at a funeral, then she is sharing a message for anyone else who's had too much to drink.

“It only takes one mistake, one moment of impaired judgment to ruin people’s lives forever,” Medina said.

DeKalb police say the driver, Jonathan Simmons, 27, ran away while Medina's children sat in the car screaming. An Atlanta police officer nearby took him into custody.

“He didn’t even know how many people could have been dead,” witness Reina Alarid told Johnson.

Simmons is currently free on $35,000 bond.

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