Rice Toddler Dies Weeks After Wrong-Way Crash That Killed Her Dad

UNDATED (WJON News) -- A young girl from Rice has now died after a wrong-way driver slammed into their car in the early morning hours of June 1st.

A GoFundMe page for Navaeh Ripka and her family shows an update that the three-year-old died at 10:00 Friday night. The little girl had suffered a traumatic brain injury in a crash on I-694 in Oakdale.

The crash killed her father, 32-year-old Alexander Ripka when he was ejected from the vehicle.

The Minnesota State Patrol says the wrong-way driver, 28-year-old William Flores-Zamora of St. Paul, had to be extricated from his car and also died.

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Troopers say Flores-Zamora's car was going south in the northbound left lane when it crashed into Ripka's car forcing it to spin out and into a Sprinter van.

The van driver was brought to a nearby hospital with minor injuries.

The GoFundMe has raised nearly $18,000 so far to help cover medical expenses and other costs.

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