Katie Evans pictured visiting her premature twin babies Hannah and Sarah. (YouCaring)
A mother in California died Friday in an apparent DUI crash as she was returning home from visiting her premature twin baby girls in an intensive care unit.
Katie Evans, 37, a mother of six, was hit head-on by a reckless driver that hit a curb and sideswiped another vehicle before crashing into her, the Santa Clarita Valley Signal reported. Evans was pronounced dead at the scene.
She was less than a mile away from her home.
Police said alcohol was found in the car that hit Evans and believe it played a role in the crash.
The Evans family (YouCaring)
The 22-year-old woman driver that killed the mother of twins was detained on suspicion of misdemeanor DUI, but later released “pending further charges,” The Signal reported.
The mother was on her way back home following the visit of her premature twin baby girls, Sarah and Hannah. They both are less than eight weeks old.
“She was traveling home late at night after visiting her baby girls at the hospital … and she was hit,” Evans’ sister-in-law, Caralee, told PEOPLE. “They said her body was thrown from the vehicle. It was pretty mangled.”
A YouCaring fundraising page aimed at raising $500,000 was set up after the tragedy. It so far raised more than $190,000.
Evan's husband, Jacob, holding baby Sarah. (YouCaring)
Evan’s husband, Jacob, will now have to take care of the other four children aged from 2 to 12 in addition to the twin baby girls who are expected to survive despite the premature birth.
“We have a rough road ahead of us, trying to figure out how to handle everything,” Jacob’s brother, Michael, told PEOPLE. “The outpouring of support from the community, from the internet, from our local church, from neighbors … it has been absolutely overwhelming.”
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