MCKEESPORT, Pa. — A family member of a woman who was killed in a crash in McKeesport last week is speaking out after police filed charges on Thursday.
“Those babies are lost. Looking for their grandma because someone couldn’t just control themselves,” Rob Longo told Chanel 11.
Longo was driving his mother-in-law, Donna DeFrances, home on Valentine’s Day night after she babysat his stepdaughter for the evening.
“Her giving us the opportunity to let us go out meant the world to her. She was happy to come over and help us out and let us get out of the house for once,” he said.
They made it to the 28th and Rockwood Streets in McKeesport, which is four houses down from Donna’s home, when another car crashed into him.
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Police say Brittney McPherson was driving that car and was going 56 miles per hour on the neighborhood street and crashed into Rob and Donna.
“I remember turning at the light and saying OK here we are, coming up the road and looking for the awnings. Then boom out of nowhere,” he said.
The crash killed Donna, and left Rob with a fractured vertebrae, a shoulder injury, and a broken leg.
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Investigators say McPherson was drunk and she had marijuana in her system, and had three young children in her car.
Neither she nor the children were hurt.
“That’s on my mind a lot. What was going to happen to those kids if she didn’t hit my car? What was she going to hit?” He said.
Rob still can’t believe he made it out of the crash alive.
“I’m gonna do the best I can to come back better, bounce back better than’s my goal. Come back better than I was for Donna. She would have wanted that,” he added.
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