Family meets 'angel' who attempted to save loved one who died in fiery crash in Houston in July

Daniela Hurtado Image
Monday, August 7, 2023
Family meets good Samaritan who tried to save visiting man's life
The family of Lovell Orr, who died in a fiery crash in SE Houston, visits with the Good Samaritan who attempted to save his life that night.

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The family of an Ohio man who lost his life in a Tesla crash two weeks ago met the Good Samaritans that tried to save him.

His family tells ABC13 they're working to process what happened. Over the weekend, they met the family who tried to save their loved one and his friend.

Lovell Orr was in Houston, visiting from Ohio on vacation.

His family says it was a trip of firsts for Orr: a first real vacation and a first plane ride.

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It was a trip filled with happiness that ended tragically for the father of a six-month-old baby.

According to police, on Saturday, July 28, Orr died after reportedly losing control of the vehicle and crashing into a tree on Del Rio Street at about 11 p.m.

A passenger, a woman, was also injured in the wreckage.

A heartbroken mother filled with gratitude for a group of strangers turned newfound friends who tried to do everything they could to save her son's life the night he crashed and ultimately died in their front yard.

"You couldn't save him," Orr's mother, Candace Robinson, said. "But he didn't suffer. That is my biggest, biggest thing that I'm glad he didn't suffer."

Lovell was a man described by his family as "full of life and love". Someone who loved music and was nicknamed "Vel Vel" by his mother.

"He told me he loved me before we hung up. I was like, 'I love you, baby,' and he said, 'I love you, ma. I'm having fun,'" Robinson said.

Robinson told ABC13 once she saw the story of her son's crash on ABC13, she knew she wanted to meet and speak to the woman who jumped into action to help. Deanna Coleman.

"You didn't know who he was or where he came from. You knew nothing about him. But you had pain for him, and that showed me what type of person you are," Robinson told Coleman.

Coleman says things were chaotic that night. A fiery crash in her front yard as she and her loved ones tried to save the two people in the car while trying to keep the flames at bay with a garden hose.

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"We couldn't really see because of the airbags, but we saw him and knew he was already gone. There's nothing we could do, but we were trying to get her (the passenger)out because we could hear her, but we couldn't see her," Coleman said.

The markings of that night remain on the tree in Coleman's front yard and on the hearts of all the families impacted by a tragic and deadly night for a father on vacation.

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