YUBA CITY-
Sherrie Beltran is going through any parent’s worst nightmare, as three of her four sons were all killed in an instant, in a single auto wreck in Yuba City over the weekend.
“I don’t know how to breathe. I can’t eat, I can’t sleep, I can’t function … I can’t even go to the crash site. I can’t do it,” Beltran told FOX40.
Saturday afternoon, 21-year-old Carlos Blanco, 19-year-old Antonio Blanco, and 15-year-old Lucas Blanco were coming back from a friend’s birthday party in their 1991 Honda Accord.
The California Highway Patrol said the brothers were on State Route 113 near Schlagle Road, when a 2007 Ford F-250 pickup truck slammed into them.
The Blanco’s car flipped and was soon engulfed in flames.
“I can’t even bury them. They have to be cremated, so I can’t do a regular burial, because they were burned so bad,” Beltran said.
The driver of the truck, 38-year-old Michael Allan Jones is suspected of driving under the influence, according to the CHP.
“That man has to live every day with what he’s done. And if he has any conscience whatsoever, it’s got to be tearing him up inside … What was he thinking? Why did he get in the car drinking,” Beltran asked.
Beltran said both Carlos and Antonio were new fathers. Antonio’s second child, a daughter, is due in less than two weeks.
“And then my son Carlos had a daughter, her name is Hulaili, she’s 10 months old. And she cries at night for her daddy,” Beltran said.
The brothers’ other siblings, sisters Yasmin and Mariah and their brother Gabriel, are also taking the loss hard.
Beltran returned from visiting Gabriel in Redding on Monday. She said her lone surviving son said he may never be able to return to Yuba City because that’s where he lost his best friends.
Alexis Emilio was a long time friend of Carlos’ who came Monday to pay his respects to Beltran.
“He would spark up any room that he was in,” Emilio said of Carlos.
Emilio said he always admired how close Carlos was with his brothers.
“They looked alike, and I felt like they were very similar,” Emilio told FOX40. “They looked out for each other took care of each other.”
While Beltran wishes every moment things had turned out different, she said in a strange way she’s glad her sons didn’t die alone.
“I know they’re happy together, I know they’re in heaven together, and I know they’ll always be together. They’re probably up there right now eating a bag of Hot Cheetos ’cause that was their favorite food,” Beltran told FOX40.
Jones, who is still recovering in the hospital, now faces manslaughter charges.
Donations to the Blanco family can be made through Pastor Jim at the Cross Roads church in Yuba City.
