Grieving mother shares final moments of children lost in tragic accident

Angelina Kauffman said she "cried and cried" after spotting her kids on the security footage on the night they died.

A grieving mum has shared Kmart CCTV showing the last images of her two children before they were killed in a devastating car accident.

Alina, 24, and Ernesto, 15, died in a head-on collision on September 1, 2023, after another car allegedly veered onto the wrong side of the road at high speeds. The siblings were only 100m from their home in Heckenberg, in Sydney's southwest.

Ernesto had just started working at Kmart in Westfield Liverpool and was being picked up by his big sister on the night of the crash.

Their mother, Angelina Kauffman, has vowed to "never stop fighting" for justice. She told Yahoo News she approached Kmart to find the CCTV because she wanted to see them alive again.

"I've only been to that Kmart twice since he died," Angelina said. "When I walked in I was shaking and I was crying. I just wanted to see them alive, because after that the only time I saw them was dead in the morgue. I just wanted to see my kids."

The vision, taken 44 minutes before the accident, shows Alina and Ernesto walking out of the store side-by-side, with Ernesto wearing his Kmart uniform.

"What got to me the most is... they're walking out not even knowing that that's the last time that they're going to drive together, going to eat together," Angelina said.

After leaving Westfield Liverpool, Alina and Ernesto drove to McDonald's on Elizabeth Drive. At 9.14pm Alina called her mother with a harmless prank.

"My daughter called me joking saying, 'Mum I couldn't find my brother'. I said, 'what?', she said 'no, no, I'm just joking! He's in the car with me, we're at McDonald's'.

"I said, 'ok I love you, drive safe', and they said 'love you too, mum'.

Just six minutes later, the siblings were "left for dead" on Sadleir Avenue. Police allege the driver, 21-year-old Johnson Kokozian, fled the scene. His licence had allegedly been disqualified, and he remains on remand in prison.

"I can't wrap my head around why did they die, especially this way. They were so close to home... it just doesn't click in my brain," Angelina said.

"They weren't doing anything wrong, they were really, really good people. My daughter last year would've been a registered nurse. My son would've been in Year 12 and he wanted to be a social worker and help families and children. They wanted to do stuff, they wanted to help people."

Since the crash, Angelina has rallied for penalties to be increased for serious road crimes. She gathered 200,000 signatures by approaching people in shopping centres and train stations, desperate for changes to be made. The NSW Law Reform Commission has been considering the submission since April last year, with Angelina frustrated at the lack of progress.

"I'm still pushing, I'm not going to let my kids be another statistic," she said.

"I will never stop. I don't want another family to go through this, this death sentence I've been dealt. I don't want anyone else to go through this. The laws need to change, Australia needs to change. Enough is enough."