A week after the father of her two children was tragically killed, Selena Gutierrez has revealed to Daily Mail that Sean Garinger was 200 days sober at the time of his death.
The 20-year-old, who appeared alongside Selena on Season 6B of 16 and Pregnant, died last week after an ATV he was attempting to move in front of his North Carolina home flipped over and landed on top of him.
Sean and Selena shared two daughters together– 3-year-old Dareli Marie (who was born on the show), and 19-month-old Esmeralda Estrella. While the former couple had experienced ups and downs throughout their relationship, Selena told the outlet that Sean was her “first love.”
“Me and Sean weren’t on the best of best terms, but we had finally got on with our lives,” she said. “We never really talked one-on-one, it was always through my sisters or his mom and he was doing better.
“He was over 200 days sober,” she continued. “He had just come to visit the girls a week prior. I know from what his mom said, he was happier than ever to see them. The girls loved him. He was planning to come back and see them on his own. … I wish we had got to have one more good conversation about everything.”
Selena noted that, recently, Sean had been attending school and had moved in with his mom, Mary Hobbs, after getting out of rehab.
“My heart aches for her,” she said of her Sean’s mother.
Over the years, Selena and Sean had a tumultuous relationship, with one of their fights in 2021 eventually ending with Selena being arrested.
Still, Selena says she is “crushed” by Sean’s death.
“No matter the circumstances that was my kids’ father,” she said. “Not only was I with him for 9+ years, he was my first love, my first everything and we had two beautiful daughters that I’ll always be grateful for.
“They didn’t deserve this; they need their daddy,” she continued. “I don’t know how I’m going to tell them when they get older.”
The mother of two revealed that her older sister Thalia was the one who broke the news of Sean’s death to her after receiving a call from Sean’s mother.
“She just looked at me and said, ‘Sean’s gone.’ I was like, ‘What do you mean?’ She said, ‘Sean’s dead,’” Selena recalled. “I remember just being in shock saying, ‘No way, you’re lying.’ She was like, ‘No, [Mary] just called me.’”
Selena’s sister Thalia called Sean’s death “very sudden and tragic.”
“The last few months of his life he was trying to better himself for my nieces,” she said. “It’s really sad to see that his life was cut short. We all had a different relationship with Sean. As for myself, we were close until there were family conflicts and then the last time I saw him, it was like everything was back to ‘normal’– he was goofy and definitely knew how to push your buttons but that was his way of showing love.
“My condolences go out to his family, especially his mother,” she continued. “As for my nieces, my heart will forever break for them. They never really got a chance to know their dad. All they have left are pictures and videos of him.”
In an interview with The Sun last week, Sean’s mom Mary stated that Sean’s death was a freak accident.
“I was with him when it happened,” Mary told the outlet. “He was just moving [the ATV] from one parking spot to the next for me, so I could back in to park. He pulled [in] front of me to park the ATV and the ground gave way from all the rain and mud.”
The ATV Sean was on flipped over on top of him, crushing his skull.
“I ran to neighbors trying to get someone to help me get the ATV off of him,” Mary told The Sun. “No one answered. I ran back to him. By that time, I realized he wasn’t alive anymore.
“There was a huge part of my heart that died with my son on Wednesday,” she continued. “He was my only son, my rock, my strength when I had none left.”
Sean is not the first person from the “16 and Pregnant” series to pass away. Farrah Abraham‘s baby daddy Derek Underwood died in 2008 (during the filming of her episode) in a car crash. Season 2’s Valerie Fairman passed away in 2016 from a drug overdose at the age of 23, while Season 5’s Jordan Cashmyer died in 2022 after a battle with drug addiction.
(Photos: MTV; Instagram)
I can’t imagine what that woman went through having to witness her son’s death. It’s too horrible to describe. Too cruel.