Lincoln couple killed in crash accomplished much in their ‘short life’

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Tragedy hit a Lincoln family over Thanksgiving weekend when a couple was killed in a car crash, leaving behind two children.

On Friday, Jenny Arriaga-Martinez, 25, and Lezter Juarez, 27, were driving on Interstate 80 near North Platte in a winter storm.

They lost control of the car, crossed the median and crashed into two other vehicles.

Both died at the scene.

Their two children — Jayliana, who will turn 1 on Saturday, and 3-year-old Jasiah — are now orphaned.

Fallon Wade, Arriaga-Martinez’s best friend, said friends and family have been keeping the kids distracted.

“Obviously, they’re going to notice when they want their parents that they’re not here,” Wade said. “It’s easy to keep kids busy with other kids and kind of fill in that void that they don’t quite know is gone yet.”

The couple were business owners in Lincoln.

Arriaga-Martinez owned a beauty studio, and Juarez had a barbershop.

Karina Arriaga, the older sister of Arriaga-Martinez, said both of them were hardworking.

“I’ve always been really proud of my sister,” she said. “In the short life she lived, she achieved so much.”

Arriaga-Martinez and Juarez had been together for more than 10 years.

Their loved ones said to know one was to know the other.

“They were basically the same,” Arriaga said. “They both have big energy.”

She said the family has been given a lot of support since the crash, and she was surprised by how much it impacted the community.

They are raising money for the funeral and for the couple’s children on a GoFundMe.

Arriaga had a message for her younger sister:

“If I could be just half of what you were, I would be really blessed.”