Arizona father of 4 killed in head-on collision

PHOENIX — A Valley father was hit and killed in a head-on collision near 43rd and Glendale avenues last Friday.

Family said 35-year-old Ricardo Quintero was on his way to gym when the crash happened.

“Five minutes before, (he) told us he loved us and walked out the door,” his wife Joselyn Orona said.  

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Phoenix Police said Quintero was driving southbound on 43rd Avenue when a car in the northbound lane crossed into oncoming traffic and hit Quintero head-on.

Both men died at the hospital.

“I was just in shock. I couldn’t believe it,” Yajaira Quintero, his twin sister, said.

Detectives don’t yet know why the other driver swerved into Quintero’s lane.

“It’s okay to feel rage, but we should carry on how he lived and forgive because that’s just the type of person he was,” Orona said.

Quintero’s family told 12News he was full of life and love. He was always the first to lend a hand and the man who filled every room with laughter.

“He was a man of gold. He loved everybody no matter what,” Yajaira Quintero said. 

Quintero leaves behind three kids and a baby on the way.

“They’re asking what we’re going to do since baby that’s on the way won’t get to meet how good their dad was. So, it’s very hard to be able to be as strong for them and answer these questions because I really don’t know how to do it myself,” Orona said. 

His wife tells me Quintero will live on in his kids and in every life he touched.

“I hope they remember that they carry a little piece of him, and to be the best person they can be because that’s who he was,” Orona said.

A GoFundMe page was created to help the Quintero family pay for funeral expenses. Click here to donate. 

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