"They were exceptional women," Mónica Villarreal said of her late mom and aunt

NEED TO KNOW

• A Florida woman has been left grieving after a Mother’s Day car crash killed her mother and aunt and left her baby daughter with severe injuries

• The family was inside one of the five vehicles involved in a major crash on I-75 in Broward County on May 10
• The driver allegedly responsible for the crash was arrested, and authorities said she was driving with a suspended license

A Florida mom has been left grieving after a Mother's Day car crash killed her mother and aunt — and left her baby daughter with severe injuries.

Speaking with NBC Miami and WPLG, Mónica Villarreal and her husband, Felipe Guzman, reflected on spending her first Mother's Day with her 9-month-old daughter, Nina, her mother and her aunt.

"We started the day beautiful, man," Guzman told NBC Miami. "The girls got all dressed in yellow. You know, my wife’s first Mother's Day."

The day took a tragic turn as the family was driving northbound on Florida's I-75 in Broward County at around 10:45 a.m. local time that Sunday, May 10, heading to Guzman's mother's house.

According to the couple, their family was inside one of the five vehicles involved in a major crash that day, near the highway's mile marker 20.

"I remember my wife screaming," Guzman told NBC Miami, recounting the crash. "I keep hearing my wife screaming, 'Where's my mother?' "

"She was ejected out of the car," he explained.

NBC Miami previously reported that the crash occurred after a driver had traveled to the area to assist a family member whose car had become disabled. The driver was on the wrong side of the roadway when the crash happened, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Four people were taken to the hospital by ambulance, while the baby suffered cardiac arrest and had to be airlifted out of the crash site. Authorities said at the time that two women, ages 58 and 60, were killed.

Cira Quinones Lewis, 60, was later arrested, and authorities said she was driving with a suspended license at the time of the crash. She is now in ICE custody on an immigration hold.

Villarreal and Guzman shared that their daughter, Nina, is still in critical condition — and Villarreal is now mourning the loss of two of her closest family members, who had traveled from Ecuador to help her with the baby because she had undergone surgery for thyroid cancer.

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"It was as if I had two moms," Villarreal told WPLG of her mother and aunt.

"My aunt was a teacher in Ecuador. She loved the kids. These last few weeks I spent with them, we were very happy with them. They played with my baby a lot. My mom, the same," she said of her family. "They were exceptional women."

As for 9-month-old Nina, Villarreal and Guzman are asking for prayers as she recovers in the hospital. The family has also started a GoFundMe to help with medical bills and funeral costs.

"She took head trauma, swelling of the brain with the head," and now… she's having difficulties because her brain is not sending the signal," Guzman said of the infant.

"Just prayers. We can't do nothing about the deceased, but we need all the prayers for the baby, for Nina," he continued. "We need her. We need a miracle. My baby is very critical."

Guzman said he is also advocating for a harsher sentence for the driver who allegedly caused the crash.

"I think it should be more than a suspended license," he told NBC Miami. "Two beautiful souls passed. My daughter's in critical, and other people were injured."

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