LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — The family of a truck driver killed in a fiery crash in North Las Vegas says he was a grandfather of 15 and the entire family is devastated by his loss.
According to North Las Vegas police, a speeding car tried to get by a tractor trailer as it was making a turn but instead slammed into the truck.
Thursday afternoon just after 4 p.m. near Simmons and Carey, right by the North Las Vegas Airport, North Las Vegas police and fire raced to the scene of the crash involving a Dodge Challenger and tractor trailer. The tractor trailer had been turning into an industrial complex when the Challenger tried to get by it.
The truck driver, 75-year-old Terry Bilton, a driver for more than three decades, was at the end of his shift.
READ MORE: North Las Vegas police looking for potential witness after deadly crash
“I was devastated. I’m still devastated. And I’m so in shock because that’s my dad. That’s my best friend,” said Cheyenne Reyes, Bilton’s daughter.
Both drivers killed
When officers arrived, both vehicles were engulfed in flames. Both drivers were pronounced dead at the scene.
Reyes said telling her children was the hardest thing she ever had to do.
“Whole different traumatizing event just telling them that their favorite person is gone. As a mother, you don’t ever want to purposefully hurt your children. But I had no choice,” she said.
The family says the grandfather of 15 talked to his grandkids every day. One of his granddaughters went to the scene when they couldn’t find him and was the first to learn her grandfather had been killed.
“And she ran through the caution tape… she was screaming, that’s my grandpa, that’s my grandpa. And then I heard the investigator said, oh, yes, honey, I’m so sorry,” Reyes said.
Plans cut short
Bilton was set to semi-retire. His house was already up for sale and he planned on moving to the mountains of Big Bear, California, with his wife. A wife that depended on Bilton’s income. The family has set up a fundraiser for her and for Bilton’s funeral.
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“I’m so angry. I’m so angry because the way I see it, somebody made a choice. And that choice had no regard for the lives around them. And I’m trying really hard to be empathetic and understand that this family has lost a child. But that child killed my dad. He made a choice. And that choice was fatal,” Reyes said.
The North Las Vegas Police Department is still investigating the accident. They are requesting the public’s assistance with this investigation. They are trying to find the driver of a gray Tesla who they believe was in the area at the time of the collision and may have witnessed events leading up to or immediately following the crash and have video. That driver is encouraged to call the North Las Vegas Police Department or to remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers.
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