Lubbock man prepares for burial of fiance, daughter after fatal crash

Aug. 24--Andrew Paul Trevino spent Saturday searching for the perfect dresses for his daughter and fiancee, who was pregnant with her third child.

That night, he thought about how it was the last thing he'd ever buy for them.

"It was so sad. I broke down," Trevino said. "It was hard, but I made sure I bought something they'd both like. It was real hard knowing it's the last stuff I bought for my baby. She swore she was a princess. She was my princess, but she thought she was a Disney princess. She would bow and everything."

Trevino's 21-year-old fiancee Tazmin Allyse Castillo and their 2-year-old daughter Alina Trevino died in a single-vehicle accident Tuesday after their 2005 Ford Explorer had a blowout. Trevino and the couple's 1-year-old son Andrew Paul Trevino Jr. were also in the vehicle and survived the accident.

"(Andrew) sat on the porch crying the whole night, until 3 in the morning. My mom had to actually make him go to bed. She didn't want him thinking of them too much. Of course, he's going to," said his sister, Alexis Trevino. "(The dress) is what he was crying about. ... He wanted to go and pick it out especially for her. He almost picked a Cinderella dress, but he was like, 'No, she likes Frozen.' "

Alina used to twirl around in princess costumes, and once when it was snowing outside, she saw a snowball with two sticks in it. She thought it was Olaf.

Along with her "Frozen" dress, Alina will be buried with a braid in her hair, just like the movie's main character, Elsa. And, she'll be buried with her mother and unborn sister.

"He didn't want Alina to be alone," said Andrew's sister, Crystal Briceno. "He said Alina would be scared to be alone."

The accident

Andrew said the family was on their way to Briceno's house at the time of the accident to drop off clothes since their dryer wasn't working.

"I just remember looking back and my kids were asleep and me and my family was going to (get custard) and I told my girl, 'they're out babe,'" Andrew said. "She said, 'Oh, let's not wake them up. Let's go.'"

Andrew just wanted to spend time with his family that day, unaware he would be spending his last moments together with them.

"That's what hurts him," Alexis said. "He was going to go spend time with his family. He said you don't think anything like this can happen to your family. They were so young."

During the accident, a tire blew out on the truck Castillo was driving and the vehicle rolled off the embankment onto 3600 Parkway Drive, according to officers. Although all occupants of the vehicle were properly restrained in seat belts or child-restraint systems, Castillo and Alina Trevino were partially ejected in the rollover and pronounced dead at the scene.

Andrew said he received a bag with items that were retrieved from the crash, but stopped looking at them after seeing how scratched up his PlayStation 3 was.

"After I saw that I just got scared," he said. "I didn't want to look at anything else."

Thankful for support

Since Tazmin and Alina's death, the Lubbock community has rallied together to help with funeral expenses since they didn't have life insurance.

As he sat in a wheelchair at his mom's home Sunday afternoon, Andrew was visibly overwhelmed by the support he's received from family, friends and strangers.

"He's real appreciative of Lubbock," Alexis Trevino said. "He cries because he's so happy how much people have helped him and he wants to put Alina and Tazmin to rest. That's what he's trying to do and everyone is helping him."

Andrew's mom, Jeanette Escobedo, said she's also been overwhelmed by the community's support.

"I was not prepared for the death, but secondly, I was not prepared for how the community has helped us," she said. "It took a big burden off our shoulders."

Alexis said Tazmin would have also been surprised by the support her family is receiving. Services for Tazmin will be held Monday in Lubbock.

"She was all about family," Briceno said. "She was a very caring person. She would have done anything for any of us, even if she was mad at us."

Moving on

Andrew's fiancee and children saved him and changed his life for the better.

"I was headed for disaster. I would have been lost in the system of years, but my baby, she would not let me go out the door with my homeboys. She would fight me and say you're not going to get locked up," Andrew said. "She changed me. I was just a real bad person, but she changed me. I used to think I was a man, but I was just a little boy."

Andrew said he hopes his son knows how full of life his mother was.

His son still wakes up at the same time every morning, crying for his mom.

"He really doesn't know what's going on, but he still cries for her," Andrew said. "They used to get up early together, so he still does that. He still cries for her."

Alexis Trevino said their family is trying to stay strong, especially for baby Andrew.

"They're going to move back to my mom's, just so my mom can help him," she said. "She's already spoiling that little boy. We show him pictures of Taz and Alina. He cries for his mom. We try to stay strong for him because he's not going to get to know his mom."

[email protected]

--766-2159

Follow Sarah on Twitter

@SarahRafique

Donate

To donate to Tazmin and Alina's family through a GoFundMe account, click here. The family has also set up a memorial fund at Plains-Capital Bank under the Tazmin and Alina Memorial Fund.

___

(c)2015 the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (Lubbock, Texas)

Visit the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (Lubbock, Texas) at www.lubbockonline.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.