Aurora – Two-year-old Tyler O’Neil, who survived a Wednesday multicar accident that killed his parents and brother, remained in fair condition Thursday with a broken femur.
Tyler, whom neighbors recently saw driving a motorized car in front of his house with his brother and father, will likely end up in the care of a relative after his release from Children’s Hospital.
“I am going to try to get Tyler home,” said Marcie Frostman, 75, Tyler’s grandmother, who lives in Wisconsin.
William O’Neil, 40, Karen Joy O’Neil, 43, and Trevor O’Neil, 4, died in the accident just before 11 p.m. in the 1300 block of South Chambers Road, Aurora police said.
Karen O’Neil was a stay-at- home mother who was always doing something with the children, like taking them to the zoo, Frostman said. William O’Neil worked for a computer company, she said.
Karen O’Neil’s sister Carolyn Kanneberg of Ashland, Wis., said Karen sold Mary Kay products and took her children to church every week.
Neighbor Sandra Trujillo said she often saw William O’Neil playing with his two boys in front of their split-level home.
“They’re 110 percent boy, always running around and playing hard,” Trujillo said of the brothers.
The two boys were in the back seat of the family’s silver 1999 Chrysler 300M, said Shannon Lucy, an Aurora police spokeswoman. Karen O’Neil was driving, Frostman said.
The family had gone out Wednesday night to watch fireworks, Lucy said. First responders and passers-by who stopped to help found a tragic scene.
“It’s tough; it’s tough for anyone,” Lucy said. “Obviously, when you have children involved, it is a pretty emotional scene for everyone.”
The night of the accident, a red 2002 Ford F650 tow truck was traveling north on South Chambers Road when it collided with a 1997 Honda CR-V going in the same direction.
The tow truck crossed the median and collided with a 2003 Nissan Murano and then the O’Neils’ Chrysler.
Four others, including the tow-truck driver, who works for John’s Towing, were taken to hospitals, treated for minor injuries and released, Lucy said.
John’s Towing is among the small group of towing companies with city contracts in Aurora.
Authorities do not suspect that drugs or alcohol played a role in the accident, Lucy said, and it remains under investigation.
“They’re great people. A really nice family,” Trujillo said of the O’Neils.
She said she was watching television news Thursday morning with her husband, Ernest, when they saw a segment on the crash.
The couple rushed to their front door and looked across the street.
They didn’t see the O’Neils’ Chrysler in the driveway.
“I instinctively knew,” said Trujillo. “We both started crying.”
Staff writer Kieran Nicholson can be reached at 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
