A memorial is growing at Los Cerritos Park for the three members of the Awaida family killed by a suspected drunk driver in Long Beach on Monday, Nov. 4, 2019. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)

Joseph Awaida, 30, died shortly after he was struck by a suspected DUI driver on Halloween night, Thursday, Oct. 31, in Long Beach. The 2007 Long Beach Poly High School graduate is pictured here in the school’s senior yearbook. (Photo courtesy of Brett Alexander)

A memorial is growing at Los Cerritos Park for the three members of the Awaida family killed by a suspected drunk driver in Long Beach on Monday, Nov. 4, 2019. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)

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People stop at a growing memorial at Los Cerritos Park for the three members of the Awaida family killed by a suspected drunk driver in Long Beach on Monday, Nov. 4, 2019. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)

A memorial is growing at Los Cerritos Park for the three members of the Awaida family killed by a suspected drunk driver in Long Beach on Monday, Nov. 4, 2019. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)



People have left notes and flowers on the closed door of Joe’s Auto Center at 1079 E Wardlow Road where Joseph Awaida worked at his father’s shop in Long Beach on Monday, Nov. 4, 2019. Awaida, his wife Raihan Dakhil and their 3-year-old son, Omar, were killed after a suspected drunken driver hit the family as they were walking on a sidewalk at Los Cerritos Park on Halloween. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)

People have left notes and flowers on the closed door of Joe’s Auto Center at 1079 E Wardlow Road where Joseph Awaida worked at his father’s shop in Long Beach on Monday, Nov. 4, 2019. Awaida, his wife Raihan Dakhil and their 3-year-old son, Omar, were killed after a suspected drunken driver hit the family as they were walking on a sidewalk at Los Cerritos Park on Halloween. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)

Joseph Awaida, 30, died shortly after he was struck by a suspected DUI driver on Halloween night, Thursday, Oct. 31, in Long Beach. The 2007 Long Beach Poly High School graduate is pictured here in the school’s yearbook, where he was voted by his peers as “most attractive” in his senior class. (Photo courtesy of Brett Alexander)

A closed sign hangs on the door of Joe’s Auto Center at 1079 E Wardlow Road where Joseph Awaida worked at his father’s shop in Long Beach on Monday, Nov. 4, 2019. Awaida, his wife Raihan Dakhil and their 3-year-old son, Omar, were killed after a suspected drunken driver hit the family as they were walking on a sidewalk at Los Cerritos Park on Halloween. (Photo by Scott Varley, Daily Breeze/SCNG)

Days after a tragic Halloween night car crash that killed a mother, father and their 3-year-old son, many Long Beach residents remained in mourning, expressing disbelief and frustration at how a family – described as extraordinarily selfless and loving – could have been wiped out by a suspected DUI driver as they were walking home from a night of trick-or-treating.

Memorials throughout the city sprung up. A vigil was planned. And by Monday afternoon, grieving friends, family members and acquaintances had raised more than $300,000 to pay for funeral and medical expenses.

The 32-year-old mother, Raihan Dakhil, died Sunday, Nov. 3, the day after her son died from injuries sustained when the suspected DUI driver plowed into the family as they were walking home Halloween night; fatally injuring her husband – the boy’s father – who died that night.

Dakhil, died at the hospital, according to Los Angeles County Coroner’s records.

Her death followed that of 30-year-old Joseph “Yousef” Awaida. He died shortly after the SUV struck them in the Bixby Knolls area as they were walking together on a sidewalk at Los Cerritos Park near their home.

Their 3-year-old son, Omar Awaida, died of his injuries Saturday, according to coroner’s records.

The driver, 20-year-old Carlo Navarro of Long Beach, stayed at the scene and was cooperative with authorities, police said. He was arrested on suspicion of DUI and vehicular manslaughter; and was later released on $100,000 bond, according to jail records.

The family of three had strong roots in Long Beach and were cherished by many in the community, according to family and friends.

By Monday morning, the corner near where they were struck – at Country Club Drive near Los Cerritos Park Place – was overflowing with mementos for the family. White crosses with each of their names, children’s toys and heartfelt notes – including one that read “we love you all dearly” – were nestled among the dozens of flowers and candles.

A memorial also could be seen at Joe’s Auto Center Monday morning, where Joseph Awaida worked at the family business owned by his father, Yousef Awaida.

“We’re closed until further notice due to our family’s loss,” said a note posted on the business’ front door, next to heart-shaped post-it notes that people had left.

“He would always greet you with a smile, and a hug if he knew you” at the auto shop, said Mary Jo Rockenbach, a friend of the Awaida family.

It wasn’t the Awaida family’s first time dealing with tragedy. In 2014, Joseph Awaida’s 13-year-old brother Omar died when he suffered a head injury after a fall in Sequoia National Park.

Rockenbach, whose son was close friends with Omar, said that Joseph Awaida was a “rock” who helped his family and his brother’s friends through the tragedy.

Although Rockenbach had only met Dakhil a few times, she said that she appeared to fit right into their incredible family.

“(Dakhil) was very sweet, she was very in tune with the family at the time of Omar’s death,” Rockenbach said. “They were together at that point and I know she was very great with the family and Joey himself at that time.”

Rockenbach wasn’t sure how long the couple had been together, but said that the two got married a year or two after Joseph Awaida’s brother’s death.

The couple named their son Omar, after his late uncle, she said.

“They were just out doing a family trick-or-treating,” Rockenbach said of the night of the incident. “They were just going back to their house with their little boy. He was so full of life, and him being named Omar meant a lot to their family.”

Joseph Awaida and Dakhil were active in the Muslim community, and were involved with Uplift Charity, an Anaheim-based nonprofit that aims to help underprivileged Muslims in California.

“Yousef Awaida was a young man who stood up for the rights of his immediate community and his Muslim community,” the nonprofit said in a Facebook post. “His wife Raihan Dakhil, a former Uplift Charity case manager is one to give up her comfort to help others in need, no matter what.”

Joseph Awaida graduated from Long Beach Poly High School in 2007.

Joseph Awaida and Dakhil had both recently graduated from Cal State Long Beach, and their son attended the university’s daycare at the Isabel Patterson Child Development Center, according to university officials.

Angelica Udarbe, a program teacher at the daycare, worked with Omar daily. She described the toddler as imaginative, who always invited other children to play.

“He was also a little mischievous in the funniest way,” she said. “He liked to hide his shoes behind the shoe bins, so when his mom came to pick him up she had to find them. But they were always in the same spot.”

Joseph Awaida had received a bachelor’s degree in sociology in spring 2018, university spokesman Gregory Woods said.

Dakhil was a graduate student who started her Master of Social Work in fall 2016 and completed in May this year, according to Woods.

Many members of the School of Social Work are devastated by the news, several people in the department said. Students at the department set up a memorial to honor Dakhil, and her family, as part of a Day of the Dead altar, Department Chair Nancy Meyer-Adams said.

Among the staff close to Dakhil was Jim Schrage, a lecturer in the School of Social Work and her seminar instructor in the master’s program. Dakhil, prior to graduating, had been working with students with mental health issues as an intern at the Long Beach Unified School District, he said.

“I remember going out to her site and telling her ‘you’re going to do amazing things,’” Schrage said. “(Dakhil) had so much promise, she was already doing great things.”

Dakhil had been working at Franklin Middle School in Long Beach, where she worked with students having attendance issues, said Sheri Koller, LBUSD social work field instructor. She was also very dedicated to helping youth who had experienced past trauma, she said.

Dakhil was a critical thinker who always asked good questions, Schrage said, but her passion for helping others is what made him so impressed by her.

“She was a really attentive mother,” he said. “Whatever she was putting into social work, she was putting into mothering and being a mom. Her family was really important to her.”

The potential for Dakhil’s family, especially her young son, frustrates and angers Schrage, he said. He also thinks about how many people Dakhil would’ve helped in her social work career.

“You start thinking about these things and you get angry,” Schrage said of the suspected DUI incident. “Just as the person on the short end of the stick. It’s so frustrating – especially when you see so much good in this little family – and it’s just sort of wiped out in this moment of disregard.”

Some folks on social media had expressed frustration that the suspected DUI driver, Navarro, had been out on bail since Friday night.

Navarro was booked on suspicion of three felonies: gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, DUI alcohol causing injury and DUI of 0.08% blood-alcohol content or more, according to arrest records.

One count of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, which is considered homicide, is punishable by up to 10 years, according to the state’s penal code.

But it’s not clear yet what the formal charges against Navarro will be, because the case had not been presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office as of Monday afternoon, spokesman Ricardo Santiago said.

After the reported death of the mother and wife on Sunday, friends were raising money to help cover funeral and medical costs for the family. They had raised more than $200,000 by Monday afternoon through a GoFundMe.com page.

An additional crowd-sourcing campaign on LaunchGood.com had raised more than $150,000 for the Awaida family by Monday afternoon.

Thousands attended a funeral service for the family on Monday afternoon, according to Koller.

“I think there was great community, people coming together with lots of support, love and compassion for each other in this tragedy,” said Koller, who attended the service. It was a beautiful afternoon honoring her and her faith.”

A public candlelight vigil for the family will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday at Los Cerritos Park, 3750 Del Mar Ave.