Parents of six killed in date night crash with driver fleeing from cops

The Michigan parents of six young children were killed in a head-on collision with a wrong-way driver who was fleeing from police while they were driving home from a date night.

Farmington Hills residents Ryan Ambrosio, 45, and his wife, Jen, 43, were killed instantly about 1:30 a.m. Jan. 6 when their SUV collided with a stolen pickup truck being driven by Angel Melendez-Ortiz, 35, WDIV reported.

Melendez-Ortiz was fleeing from police in the 2006 Ford Super Duty truck, which struck a patrol car and sped off at more than 100 mph onto the northbound Lodge Freeway in Southfield.

He got off the freeway at Telegraph Road, turned off the headlights, made a U-turn and re-entered the northbound lanes of the Lodge, where he drove in the wrong direction, according to the news outlet.

The suspect then slammed into the Ambrosios’ GMC Terrain near Civic Center Drive.

The couple were killed instantly, leaving behind six children between the ages of 2 and 9, WDIV reported.

Melendez-Ortiz and his passenger, identified as a 29-year-old Detroit woman, were hospitalized with serious injuries, according to the outlet.

He was charged with two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of first-degree fleeing and eluding police causing death, two counts of reckless driving causing death and two counts of operating a vehicle with license suspended/revoked/denied causing death.

A GoFundMe page for the couple’s children has raised more than $612,000 as of Tuesday morning.

The Ambrosios “were so loved, by so many of us. Their families, friends, church, and community groups are reeling from this shocking loss,” the organizers of the fundraiser wrote.

“The greatest impact of this tragedy is (and will continue to be) on their six young children: Amelia, Maria Grace, Faustina, Benedict, Raphael, and Julian. Ranging in age from 2-9 years old, they now have to navigate life’s ups and downs without their parents by their side,” they wrote.

In an update, they sought to reassure everyone that the kids are being taken care of.

“The Ambrosio children, while now without their parents, have always had the presence and support of a large extended family that will ensure they are raised together in a safe and loving home,” the organizers wrote.

Melendez-Ortiz, of Romulus, has pleaded not guilty and was given a $1.5 million cash bond, the prosecutor’s office said. He is due back in court Jan. 24.

“These are senseless deaths, and I have authorized the highest possible charges for this crime,” Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said, according to CBS Detroit.

“We will pursue justice for these victims and their entire family, including their young children, and we will hold this defendant accountable,” she added.

A spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office said charging a driver with murder after a fatal crash is rare, but is appropriate in this case.

“This was the rare case that gave us enough evidence,” the spokesperson told the Detroit Free Press.

This case shows “elements of intentionality on the part of the defendant” because he turned off the headlights of the vehicle and was driving on wrong way,” according to the rep.