The collision that killed three members of the Lourenco family has claimed the life of one more member.
Family announced on Friday that Matthew Lourenco, 14, showed no brain activity and was removed from life support, but not before donating his vital organs, the family said.
“After numerous tests, it has been confirmed that Matthew has no brain function,” the family wrote in a Facebook post. “His heart, however, was filled with kindness and love and will save another. Matthew will be donating vital organs saving up to five lives.”
The Dec. 15 collision has claimed the lives of Ceres teacher Jennifer Lourenco, 45, her 44-year-old husband Daniel Lourenco, and their 16-year-old daughter Madelynn Lourenco. The couple’s eldest daughter, Emma, 18, remains in critical condition.
“Emma is still fighting strong and we pray that she continues to make progress and strides towards recovery,” the family wrote on social media. “Please keep the prayers coming for our sweet Emma’s healing.”
The deadly collision occurred at 9:25 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 15, at Lander and Greenway avenues. Greenway traffic must stop at the intersection and yield at Lander Avenue traffic which does not stop.
Uriel Guizar-Negrete,22, of Modesto was driving a 2008 Infiniti northbound on Lander at a high rate of speed, according to the California Highway Patrol. The 2023 Jeep driven by Daniel Lourenco stopped at the stop sign on Greenway Avenue before entering Lander right in the path of the speeding Infiniti. The Infiniti smashed into the driver’s side of the Jeep, instantly killing Guizar-Negrete, who was not wearing a seat belt and ejected from the vehicle.
The Jeep was hit with such force that it was pushed approximately 150 feet from the point of impact.
Daniel and Jennifer Lourenco were killed instantly. Daughter Madelynn, who was sitting on the impact side of the Jeep, later died at Doctors Medical Center.
Jennifer Lourenco was hired by Ceres Unified School District in 2020 to teach at La Rosa Elementary School before she taught at Sinclear. She taught moderate-severe special needs students and was named “Teacher of the Year” for the 2023-24 school year.
Hundreds gathered on Wednesday to remember the Lourenco family at a candlelight vigil at Pitman High School. Agriculture teacher and FFA advisor Kiley Gravatt said that the community suffered a heartbreaking loss.
“Daniel, Jen and Maddie have impacted so many lives and this loss has been unimaginable,” said Gravatt. “The Lourenco family was and is very loved by the Pitman FFA Department. There are truly no words to express our heartbreak as we grieve and pray. It is very evident the impact they have had on an entire community of people in different areas.”
Friends of the Lourenco children talked about the siblings’ tight bond and the feeling of the Lourencos being a second home.
“The first thing I noticed about the family, and the first thing that you get to leave on this planet with your own families, is your family. And if you had any relationship to any of the children or Jennifer or Dan themselves, you understood the love that they had and what they gave to their children, and the foundation of that was, was their faith,” said Tim McCabe, a Pitman teacher and cross country coach to Matthew. “Psalm 34:18 says our Lord is close to the brokenhearted and rescues those who are crushed in spirit. And we are crushed. The family is crushed. It feels like the weight is too heavy to lift. But as a community, everybody that you see around you, we get to have a hand with that heavy weight, and we can lift whatever we can, because that’s what community is all about.”
David Costa, a first cousin of Daniel Lourenco, said that it was “inspiring to know that that their kindness and their joy and just their very normal way to live Holiness has touched so many people.”
Services have been scheduled for Daniel, Jennifer, Madelyn and Matthew Laurenco. Visitation and viewing will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Dec. 26 at Turlock Memorial Park, 425 N. Soderquist Rd. A funeral mass and rosary will be held at 11 a.m. Dec. 27 at Our Lady of Assumption, 2602 S. Walnut Rd., Turlock. Both events are open to the public. There is also a GoFundMe to help cover the four funerals at https://gofund.me/566c6cc5
(Kristina Hacker, Sabra Stafford and Jeff Benziger contributed to this article.)
