Family in mourning after highway crash kills Tipton man

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The sisters of a 25-year old Tipton man say their hearts are broken after he was killed in a car crash that has also left his wife in a coma.

Family members say Martin Lara was a funny guy who loved his family. His sisters say they are not sure where he was going with his wife and two kids Saturday. They just know that day has changed their lives forever. "He was just so good to many people," Lara's sister Erica Delira said. "When you needed a favor he would do it even though he would go without money."

Six of Lara's sisters stood close to one another, holding their tight family bond intact despite losing a loved one who was instrumental in keeping their family together. "He was the only boy," Erica said. "The only boy in the family."

"What was that like for him growing up?" An Action News reporter asked. "He didn't like it when one would get married," Erica explained. "He would tell my mom five more to go Carina."

California Highway Patrol officers say the driver of a truck was going too fast around a curved-off ramp when he lost control, hitting Lara's car. "His wife told my mom 'I just love Gordo, if something ever happened to him I don't know what I would do without him. He is my life,'" Erica said. "His wife loved him so much."

Gordo is the family nickname Lara was given as a kid. "Because he was always chubby and small," family members said. "No, never Martin. He was always Gordo."

The family says Martin loved music, especially Spanish music. It was an interest he and his wife shared, but his sister Aimee says above all he loved his daughters -- 6-year-old Roxana and 1-year-old Laley. "He would have a lot of pictures with them," Aimee said. "He would like taking pictures."

But through the tears, the family is finding comfort in remembering the good times with Martin, reminiscing about things like the good food he would make. "He was the best cook," Aimee said. "He used to like doing tortas and he wouldn't like to share either."

And it's memories such as those that family members say they are going to hold on to keep Martin's memory alive.