Dubai: An Indian-origin Uber driver in New York is struggling to raise $18,000 to bury his five-year-old daughter after the child’s mother allegedly told police she had killed her, in a tragedy that has left the family devastated, NDTV reported.
Kuldeep Singh, whose daughter Fabiana Cabello died on October 14, has launched a GoFundMe campaign to cover funeral and burial expenses.
“I loved my daughter very much, and losing her feels like I lost my whole world,” Singh wrote in an appeal for financial assistance.
The grieving father said he was unable to meet the immediate costs demanded by the funeral home and cemetery.
“Right now, I am facing expenses I cannot cover on my own,” he wrote, explaining that he was trying to continue working as an Uber driver using a rental vehicle while coping with his daughter’s death.
Mother calls police
According to The New York Times, police received a 911 call on the evening of October 14 from a woman reporting an assault at a residence in Richmond Hill, Queens.
The caller, identified as 32-year-old Francis Cabello, allegedly told the emergency operator: “I killed my daughter.”
When officers arrived at approximately 6.55pm, Cabello reportedly told them the child was upstairs and not breathing.
Police found Fabiana unconscious and bleeding from her nose.
She was rushed to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.
Cabello was subsequently arrested and charged with murder.
Authorities have not publicly established what happened inside the home before the emergency call.
What the autopsy found
According to a criminal complaint obtained by PEOPLE magazine, an autopsy found abrasions on Fabiana’s face and petechiae — tiny spots caused by bleeding — in her eyes, heart and lungs.
The complaint stated that these findings could be associated with asphyxia.
The precise circumstances of the child’s death remain under investigation.
Grandfather describes concerns
Cabello’s father, Franklin Cabello, told the New York Post that he had noticed changes in his daughter’s behaviour before the tragedy.
He claimed she had stopped taking medication and had been acting unusually.
“I never would have thought she would have done something like this,” he said, describing her as a previously attentive and protective mother.
His statements about her health have not been independently confirmed, and no medical diagnosis or connection to the alleged crime has been established.
‘She was such a beautiful child’
For Fabiana’s relatives, the loss is particularly painful because of the warmth and affection they remember.
Punraj Singh, a relative who previously lived in the apartment below the family, described the little girl as loving, joyful and unusually caring.
He recalled preparing her favourite Indian dishes, including fried fish, dal puri, roti and curry.
Fabiana also helped her great-grandmother move around the home, holding her hand when her knees hurt.
Her friendliness extended beyond the family. During one doctor’s appointment, she reportedly hugged every nurse she encountered.
“Nobody would want to lose her,” Punraj Singh told The New York Times. “She was such a beautiful child.”
As investigators continue examining the circumstances of Fabiana’s death, her father is focused on giving her a dignified farewell.
His fundraising appeal seeks $18,000 to cover funeral expenses and ease the financial burden during what he described as one of the hardest moments of his life.