Crime & Safety

Candlelight Vigil for Carmo Family

The Cobb victims of a Florida interstate pileup will be remembered at Sprayberry High School Wednesday night.

A tangle of immigration and financial issues has grown around the Cobb victims of last Sunday's Florida interstate tragedy. 

But tonight, the three Carmo family members who perished, and the surviving daughter who remains in critical condition, will be remembered at a candlelight vigil. 

Cobb Schools spokesman Doug Goodwin said in a statement late Wednesday morning that the vigil will take place at 7 p.m. at in Northeast Cobb. 

Find out what's happening in East Cobbwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

That's where 15-year-old Lidiane Carmo, still hospitalized in Florida, is a freshman. Her father, Pastor Jose Carmo, her mother, Adriana, and Lidiane's sister, Leticia, 17, also a Sprayberry student, were killed early Sunday morning when the van in which they were riding was involved in a multiple-vehicle pileup on Interstate 75 south of Gainesville, FL. 

Jose Carmo, a minister and the founder of the Ingreja Internacional de Restauracao in East Marietta, was eager  for Sunday services after a three-day religious conference in Florida.

Find out what's happening in East Cobbwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

A total of 11 people died in the accidents, which were caused by heavy fog and smoke from a brush fire. Also killed were Jose Carmo's brother Edsom and Edsom's girlfriend, Roselia DeSilva.

The latest fatality was discovered Tuesday in a pickup truck by the Florida Highway Patrol. Eighteen other people, including Lidiane Carmo, were rushed to hospitals. 

Other Cobb survivors include Weberson Barbosa, 36, of Marietta and Joilson Lima, 36, of Kennesaw. Both were part of the 15-member party from the Restoration church that attended the conference.

Survivors described the harrowing scene of the accidents in graphic detail, with Marcia Silva saying the church van "hit a wall of darkness" as it crashed. 

Now friends, parishioners and family members are struggling to cope not only with the deaths, but also some complicated burdens of what has been left behind.

For starters, they're trying to raise an estimated $40,000 to send the bodies of the victims to their native Brazil for funerals and burials. The church is asking those wishing to donate to make a contribution to the Carmo Family Funeral Fund at any Bank of America branch.

And all the members of the Carmo family were living here on expired visas and thus were not legal immigrants. The Brazilian Consulate in Atlanta has said that immigration issues are a matter for the U.S. government and that it cannot provide financial support for transport and burial and for medical expenses.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution quoted a Restoration church member saying that the congregation will fight to keep Lidiane Carmo in the United States and that she does not have health insurance. 

The AJC also quoted an immgration lawyer who said that because of her orphan status, Lidiane Carmo could recieve a green card to remain in the country. She has relatives in Cobb, according to the report.

According to Fox 5, Leticia Carmo's classmates at Sprayberry have been selling T-shirts and bracelets to raise burial funds


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.

More from East Cobb