Sarah Hyland Mourns Loss Of Her Cousin Trevor Canaday, Who Was Killed In Alleged Drunk Driving Accident

Modern Family star Sarah Hyland is mourning the loss of her teenage cousin who was killed by an alleged drunk driver in Nebraska over the weekend.

The Omaha Police Department confirmed Trevor Canaday’s death following a traffic collision on Saturday evening. The alleged drunk driver, Jeffrey Eggerling, was said to have run a red light and crashed into the car with Canaday and his father Clifford, who was behind the wheel. When the two were ejected from the vehicle, Canaday had suffered fatal injuries to his head and Clifford was transported to Nebraska Medicine for serious head injuries.

Over the weekend, Hyland announced on social media that Canaday had been killed “by a drunk driver” and that her uncle was still in the hospital. She also provided a link to a GoFundMe page set up by Canaday’s mom Becky and his sisters Tessa and Zoee to help raise money for Canaday’s funeral and medical costs. Within one day, the GoFundMe page has raised $36,098, which include donations from Hyland’s Modern Family co-stars, Ariel Winter and Nolan Gould.

“Yesterday my 14-year-old cousin was killed by a drunk driver named Jeffrey Eggerling,” the actress wrote. “My Uncle is in the hospital awaiting more surgeries. PLEASE keep your prayers with my family during this horrific time. And please DONATE.” 

Police reported that 36-year-old Eggeling had fled from the scene of the accident following the collision and was discovered on foot a short distance away with an alcohol odor and slurred speech. Eggeling was then booked into Douglas County Corrections on two counts of DUI causing serious bodily injury and a count for fleeing the scene of a personal injury crash.

Devastated by the tragic death of her cousin, Hyland took to Twitter to slam Eggeling.

“JEFFERY EGGERLING 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. JEFFERY EGGERLING is a murderer. May he rot in hell,” she wrote.

According to the GoFundMe page, Canaday and his father were on their way to a show choir event when they were hit by a “drunk driver.”

Yesterday, Hyland asked her followers to keep their opinions about the accident to themselves after facing backlash for asking people to donate to Canaday’s GoFundMe page.

“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 wrote. 

Now, the actress has decided to take a break from Twitter altogether.

“You guys finally did it,” Hyland wrote yesterday evening. “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.”

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