Modern Family star Sarah Hyland’s 14-year-old cousin Trevor Canaday was killed in an alleged drunk-driving accident in Nebraska on Saturday.
Hyland revealed the tragic news on Instagram, where she shared a link to a GoFundMe page set up by Trevor’s mom Becky Canaday and his sisters Tessa and Zoee.
READ MORE: Sarah Hyland’s 14-year-old cousin killed in car crash
According to the GoFundMe page, the father and son were “driving to a show choir event and were involved in a serious car accident.”
“His dad, Bryan, is recovering physically, but sadly Trevor has gained his wings and is singing and playing some crazy football in heaven.”
Modern Family co-stars Ariel Winter and Nolan Gould also shared the link to the GoFundMe page with their followers.
Donation records on the page show that the two highest donations have come from (so far) Winter, who donated $2,500, and from Hyland, who gave $1,000.
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Many people took to Twitter to criticize Hyland, saying that as she earns around US$100,000 per Modern Family episode, and she should pay for the expenses herself.
https://twitter.com/itsalyssa_12/status/1069672727923970048
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Hyland responded as speculation grew about her involvement in the GoFundMe campaign, writing: “I’d like to ask those who have negative thoughts or opinions about the tragedy that happened to my family, to keep them to themselves. You don’t know all the details. And how dare you attack when a beautiful life has been lost.”
She followed up with another tweet letting her fans know she will be “staying offline for a while.”
“You guys finally did it. Your horrible negative ignorant words have broken me. Happy? Staying offline for a while. I have a special announcement and video releasing on Wednesday I believe. So. There’s that. (peace sign emoji),” Hyland wrote on Twitter.
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Hyland took to Twitter on Dec. 2, slamming the driver Jeffrey Eggeling on Twitter, calling him “a murderer.”
“JEFFERY EGGERLING (sic) had two prior DUI’s and tried to RUN from the scene of the crime after hitting my Uncle’s car SO fast that my 14 yr old cousin, who was wearing a seatbelt, was ejected from the vehicle,” she tweeted. “May he rot in hell.”
Authorities identified the driver as Eggeling, 36. Police said the suspect “fled on foot from the scene” following the collision.
“Eggeling was located on foot a short distance from the collision scene,” according to booking information obtained by USA Today. “Eggeling had the odor of alcoholic beverage about his person as well as slurred speech.”
Eggeling was booked into Douglas County Corrections on two counts of DUI causing serious injury and a count of leaving the scene of a personal injury crash.
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