Gary train crash: Mom, 2 kids killed as drove across tracks on way to school, stepfather says

GARY, Ind. (WLS) -- A mother was taking her two children to school on Tuesday when they were killed while crossing the tracks in the path of a freight train.

Babatunde Oloyede is consumed with grief after he lost his wife and two stepchildren in one day.
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Shermika Herbert, 13-year old Deyki Mitchell and 11-year old Daniya Brown were killed when their car was hit by a freight train Tuesday morning in Gary.

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"A whole generation is gone," Oloyede said. "Do you know what that means? They're gone."

Oloyede said Herbert was taking the kids to school when the crash happened at the train crossing. Now, the family is gone.



Shermika, his wife of three years, was an entrepreneur who turned her love of cooking into a catering business. He said she would go out of her way to do things for other people.
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"She was just concerned about having a good family," Oloyede said. "And that was me, that was for me."

And he bonded with her children, Deyki and Daniya. Family friend Tia Rush said the brother and sister were not just siblings, they were best friends.

"He protected her and she didn't play about him," Rush said. "She was the mama, the grandma, auntie. Daniya was everything."

Dayki and Daniya were students here at Thorp Elementary. There are grief counselors there for anyone in the building who needs it. In the meantime, school officials are working on plans for a memorial for the two children.