The community is doing its best to support two Ansonia families who suffered tragic losses this week.
Six-year-old Nyah Marcano died Tuesday in a car accident on Route 8 north in Shelton.
Six-year-old Leah Rondon died Thursday after being struck by a vehicle on Ford Street. Click here to read her obituary.
Both girls were going into the first grade.
Nyah was a student at Prendergast School. Leah went to Mead.
Mayor David Cassetti and officials from Ansonia Public Schools visited both families Friday to offer condolences.
“The families are doing as good as they’re going to do at this point,” Cassetti said. “It was a terrible tragedy for our town.”
Planning is underway to hold fundraisers to help both families.
The mayor said Saturday’s “Rock the Valley” will now be a benefit for the girls’ families.
Click here for complete info about “Rock the Valley.”
A ziti dinner fundraiser will be held at some point next week at Ansonia High School. More details will be released Monday, school officials said.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families, friends and loved ones of these two children,” Carol Merlone, superintendent of schools, said in a statement Friday.
Cassetti said a breakfast fundraiser is being planned as well.
Grief counselors were available Friday and will be back next week at the Mead and Prendergast schools.
Parents are asked to call the school for services: Mead School, 203 – 736-5090, and Prendergast School, 203 – 736-5080.
A “Go Fund Me” website was set up Thursday to help cover funeral expenses for Nyah’s family.
About $2,300 of the $10,000 goal had been raised in 24 hours.
“I would like to take a moment to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart who has shared the link and/or contributed to the funds we are raising on behalf Nyah and her family,” an update on the page read Friday.
“The amount of support and prayers being sent their way is nothing short of amazing.”
The person who set up the page did not respond to a request for comment.
The description on the page says Nyah’s younger sister, Lilly Rose, died in July. She was just two months old.
“Every parent’s worst nightmare is to lose a child let alone two in less than one year,” the page reads.
A vigil was held Thursday night at Nolan Field to mourn Leah Rondon and offer prayers for her family.
Amy Butler, a Rondon family friend, said about 75 people attended.
Butler said speakers included John Coppola, the assistant principal at the John C. Mead School. Leah’s kindergarten teacher, Dave Velardi, played a song from Leah’s class.
Parents all over Ansonia are now trying to break the tragic news to their own young children.
“My son and Leah had been in class a few years,” Butler said. “I just tried to be honest with both my kids about what happened.”
Leah was previously enrolled in the infant-toddler program at the YMCA, where Butler worked.
“She was athletic, a good student, and a great kid,” Butler said. “She just lit up the room.”
Leah was a happy and energetic child, the youngest of three siblings in a remarkable family.
“Her family is involved in everything. Baseball, softball, soccer. It’s a great family and this is just a very difficult situation,” Butler said.
The mayor said Leah Rondon’s father, Henry, coached his son in little league baseball.
“(She) was the most beautiful little girl you ever wanted to see,” the mayor said.
The principals at the Mead and Prendergast schools referred inquiries to the superintendent’s office.
Click here to read the superintendent’s tribute to the two little girls.
State police and city police are conducting separate inquiries into the deaths.
Nyah was one of several passengers in a 2002 Chevy Tahoe traveling north on Route 8 being driven by a 36-year-old Ansonia resident.
The Tahoe allegedly rear-ended a Ford F‑150 that had slowed down for traffic, according to an accident summary from state police.
The Tahoe then overturned as it left the road and went down an embankment.
“The fatal accident that happened Tuesday is under investigation,” Trooper Kelly Grant said in an email Friday.
The rear-end crash triggered some caustic comments on social media this week.
A knee-jerk reaction to assign blame is often seen when a child dies, according to the Journalism Center on Children and Families. A training module from the group warns the media about falling into that trap.
Leah was visiting a friend’s house on Ford Street Thursday afternoon. She was in a small plastic wagon that rolled into the street, where she was struck.
The driver of the vehicle that hit Leah was identified Friday as Gaetan DomPierre, 54, of Ansonia.
He tried to help the little girl after the accident.
“I was told that the driver stopped and got out and tried to help and that neighbors arrived and also helped tend to Leah,” Ansonia Police Lt. Andrew Cota said in an email.
