The children's mother returns to the site of the crash where locals have left flowers. Photo / via Twitter
It was an oppressive summer evening in western Sydney where seven children were planning a trip down the road to pick up some ice cream.
The sun was coming down, and the kids — all from the same extended family — asked father-of-six Danny Abdallah if they could go by themselves.
He thought about it and decided that since they were in a big group and they promised to be back before sunset he would let them go.
However, he very clearly told them to stick together and stay on the footpath.
He told reporters this week he wanted the kids to have a "little independence" and believed the chances of something untoward happening to them was one-in-a-million on the short walk to the shop.
The group of seven young children set off around the corner from the family home and walked down Bettington Road which runs alongside the Oatlands Golf Club.
Just off the southern tip of that golf course and moments before the kids asked for permission, 29-year-old builder Samuel William Davidson was also planning a quick trip to the shops.
At his rented home on Greens Ave, police allege he'd been drinking with his mates when they decided about 8pm to go and get cash from a service station.
Davidson's 24-year-old mate jumped in the passenger seat of his friend's ute for the four-minute journey to the Caltex Service Station that was less than 2km away.
As he left the servo, police allege Davidson ran a red light and was seen travelling on the wrong side of the road.
Witnesses told police Davidson and 24-year-old passenger were acting erratically and were sticking their fingers out the window of the car at passing cars on Bettington Road on their short journey back to Greens Ave.
Just seconds later, police allege Davidson mounted the kerb and his ute smashed into the crowd of seven children.
Nearby motorists rushed to help the children, and when police arrived at the scene they found Davidson sitting shirtless in the driver's seat of the blue ute.
He allegedly had a blood-alcohol content of .15 — three times the limit.
Four of the children in that group of seven lost their lives that night.
Three of Mr Abdallah's kids Antony, 12, Angelina, 13, and Sienna, 9, and their cousin Veronique Sakr, 11, all died despite the efforts of emergency services.
This week the deaths of the four children have sent shockwaves across the nation.
Hundreds of people have visited the crash site since the tragedy to pay their respects and lay flowers.
One of them was Mr Abdallah.
Calling himself a "part-time worker, full-time father" Mr Abdallah he spoke lovingly of the children he had lost when he faced reporters.
"Antony is 13, very handsome boy. He loved basketball. He woke up that morning and said, 'We're going to play this game for Kobe (Bryant)'," he said.
"Angelina, she was my MLH, my little helper. Anything I needed, she had my back."
"Sienna, she was my little diva, my little actress," he said.
His wife Leila told reporters she doesn't hate the driver, who is alleged to have been three times over the limit.
"The guy, I know he was (allegedly) drunk, driving on this street. Right now I can't hate him. I don't want to see him, (but) I don't hate him," she said.
"I think in my heart, I forgive him, but I want the court to be fair. It's all about fairness. I'm not going to hate him, because that's not who we are."
The grandmother of four children killed said the pain of the tragedy is "too much to handle".
Grandmother Georgette Abdallah also visited the site and thanked the hundreds of people who have supported her family.
"Thank you everyone for supporting us," she told reporters.
"Please pray for us. Pray for my son and his wife and all of us. That's too much to handle. Give us strength."
Davidson has been charged with 20 offences including four counts of manslaughter, dangerous driving occasioning death and grievous bodily harm, negligent driving and drink-driving.
He's scheduled to return to Parramatta Local Court on April 2.
The funeral for the Abdallah siblings will be held at the Our Lady of Lebanon Co-Cathedral in Harris Park on Monday morning.
Religious charity Team Jesus said Sienna, Angelina and Antony were involved in the group's weekly feeding of the homeless in Blacktown in western Sydney.
"These little angels were active members of the family of Team Jesus where they served with joy and with a dedication that we rarely see in adults," Team Jesus-Sydney posted on Facebook.
"In fact, these little angels used to encourage or rather insist on their parents to take them to Blacktown on Friday night so they could serve, not the other way round.
"By this, they set an example to all other children to do the same and they made a huge impression on everyone who met them at this community service."
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