Three months after a University of Miami graduate was killed in a crash, his parents have established a scholarship fund in his memory.
On the corner of Bird Road and San Amaro, Dino Ghilotti lost his life on Mother's Day morning, just two days after graduating.
His parents were staying at the Biltmore Hotel. His mother now recalls how security came to escort her to the lobby.
"We reached a set of doors and the first thing that came into my mind is that it was Mother's Day and that might kids were going to be surprising me when you opened the door," said Nancy Ghilotti.
Instead, two police officers were there to tell her and her husband that Dino had died in a car crash. They had been scheduled to fly back home to San Francisco together.
"He actually was on the plane with all of us. The whole family stayed and we all rode back on the plane, but he was in his coffin. Just pretty ... a horrible, horrible thing for us," said Ghilotti.
Soon after his parents decided to set up the Canes Cares for Canes Scholarship Fund in his name for a deserving student.
"That was a scholar an athlete and artist . Dino was all those," said Ghilotti.
Dino's girlfriend Allie Meyer was driving the car.
"I know that he doesn't want everybody to dwell on the tragedy of it. He would want people to remember him and who he was and who he still is," said Meyer.
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His family barely knew her at the time and have since taken her in. She and Dino's mother are inseparable.
"We lost a son, but we gained this beautiful daughter. She's been living with us in California since June,"said Ghilotti. "We are walking through this horrific path of grief together."
No one has been charged in this accident, according to Coral Gables Police. The department has referred the case to the state attorney's office for review.
Click here for information on the scholarship.
