Family Asking For Help After Deadly Crash In Apache

A family grieving the loss a child in a deadly crash is now trying to raise money for their child who survived it.

The accident happened two weeks ago in Apache at what many drivers call a dangerous intersection. Two-year-old Kenzie Balentine and her grandfather, Roger Balentine, both died in the crash.

“She would always make you smile,” Lana Balentine said about her daughter, Kenzie. “Wherever her older brother was, that's where she was.”

Kenzie and her 4-year-old brother Ty were in a van with their father and grandfather when a truck driven by an 18-year-old girl T-boned them. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said the teen ran the stop sign. The driver’s condition is still under investigation.

“He said my daughter hadn't made it and I just fell to the floor. I lost it,” Balentine explained.

Kenzie and Roger both died.

“People expect you to cry and break down all the time, like I still do that, but most of the time, you just feel numb, like you're broken,” Balentine said.

Ty was critically injured with a skull fracture, broken leg, liver laceration and lung contusion. He is now recovering.

“He'll be sitting there, saying that he's praying to Kenzie, talking to her, and he'll still talk about her like she's right there,” Balentine told News 9.

Balentine said she wants something good to come from such a tragedy - and she recently got it. After Kenzie and Roger's deaths, the community petitioned for a safer intersection at Highway 9 and US 62. There are now new LED lights around the stop signs to alert drivers in the future.

"I'm just really hoping it doesn't happen to anybody else,” Balentine said.

There will be a family festival, raffle and grill-off on August 1 at Longbranch Saloon to benefit Ty and in memory of Kenzie.

Learn more about how you can help the family.