“Forgiveness is part of being a Christian,” said Kimberly Burns whose son died in a fiery crash Saturday morning. “It was senseless but everybody makes mistakes.”
DALLAS — The suspect in the deaths of two fraternity brothers and best friends in a vehicle collision in Houston offered his prayers and apologies to the victims’ families on Wednesday. And a grieving family from Dallas told us that yes, it is an apology they accept.
Ronnie Burns II and Jayden Flemming, recent graduates of Florida A&M University, were leaving the Texas Greek Picnic event in support of their Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity when Burns’ Lexus was broadsided by an SUV at an intersection in Houston’s Midtown neighborhood. The impact and fire killed them both.
Wednesday, the Burns family made the trip from Dallas to Houston to see the crash scene for themselves.
“I’m hurt, so sad that my son had to go in such a way,” Ronnie Burns II’s mother, Kimberly Burns, said.
“The bitter part is my son is gone,” said his father, Ronnie Burns. “I’ll never be able to talk to him or touch him.”
Earlier Wednesday, the suspect, Rene Hernandez, 21, was released from a Houston hospital and wheeled to a waiting police SUV to take him to the Harris County Jail. But as he was being loaded into the police vehicle, he was asked if he had anything to say to the Burns and Flemming families.
“That I’m sorry and that I hope that the Lord forgives me and I hope the Lord is with them through their pain and their suffering,” Hernandez responded. “And it was never intentional. And that’s my biggest grief right now is with the victims’ families and the victims themselves.”
“We’ll accept that,” Ronnie Burns said later that day. “If he’s man enough to apologize and hold himself accountable for his mistakes, yes, we’ll accept that, as the Burns family, because that’s how my son was.”
“I’m hurt,” Kimberly Burns added. “This was just the dumbest thing he could have done ever in life. But like my husband said, we accept his apology. Forgiveness is part of being a Christian. It was senseless, but everybody makes mistakes.”
Ronnie Burns added that he felt sorry for Hernandez’s family.
Rene Hernandez is in the Harris County Jail, charged with two counts of murder since the deaths happened while he was reportedly fleeing police.
A GoFundMe account is raising funeral expenses for both families. Services for the fraternity brothers and best friends are pending.
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