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John Hollenhorst reportingFrom his hospital bed Sunday night, Earl Smith expressed grief, sorrow, anger and even hatred, as he recalled the strange and baffling accident that took the life of his youngest son Darius, known to friends and family as "Buddha."
Earl Smith/Father: "We were all holding hands, me and the kids, like we always do."
Earl Smith doesn't remember everything about the accident. But he recalls enough to keep him crying off and on all day.
He was walking with his children to meet his girlfriend as she got off work. He saw a car run a stop sign and come right at them.
Earl Smith/Father: "He didn't try to avoid us. It's like he did it, to me. He came right at us. I looked and I was like, 'Well, he's got to turn off now.'"
Smith says the car ran right over his family at about 50 miles an hour.
Earl Smith: "Just something's weird about the whole thing, how it happened. Because he had plenty of time to turn away from me, but he never did."
Smith blacked out from a concussion. He also has torn ligaments.
When he regained consciousness at the scene, he saw one of his children was covered, already pronounced dead. Smith says he didn't want to know which child it was, but he suspected it was his youngest because the body was so small.
Now he feels anger and even hatred at the driver.
Earl Smith: "Yeah, because my son was only six years old. He just started his life, and somebody took it away from him."
"I mean, he took my son's life. I have to feel some kind of hatred towards the guy."
Smith says his other son suffered a broken leg and his daughter has two broken legs as well as a head injury. Both are in stable condition.
Meanwhile, family friends are setting up a trust fund at a local bank. Details should be announced Monday.
