Tribute to ‘caring and loving’ 24-year-old dad from Seaford who died in A27 crash in East Sussex

Dante Murphy, a 24-year-old father, died in a crash on the A27 on Tuesday, January 9.

Sussex Police confirmed that the single-vehicle collision happened between Falmer and Lewes at about 3am when Dante’s grey BMW 320i was travelling eastbound.

Dante’s mother Catherine Murphy, 58, from Seaford, said: “He will be missed immensely by everyone.”

A fundraiser has been set up by Catherine’s sister Joanne Gray at www.gofundme.com/f/dante-murphy to help the family cover funeral costs and expenses.

Catherine said: “We are in a state of shock and keep waking up at 3am, the time of his death.”

She said the family is ‘taking one day at a time’ and thanked Dante’s close friends for being ‘fantastic and supportive’.

Man dies in A27 crash between Falmer and Lewes

Catherine said: “From a young age we knew Dante was special, born on the Millennium this proved it! As a child he was caring and loving and had a wonderful personality. At school he quickly accumulated a vast amount of friends and everyone loved him.”

She said that when Dante was a child he was ‘full of mischief and a pleasure to be around’. Catherine added that Dante was a ‘totally dedicated’ father to his two-year-old son and ‘spent wonderful times together’ with him. She said: “He would say ‘I love you’ to him and his little one would say ‘I love you more’.”

The GoFundMe page has raised more than £4,000 of its £15,000 target. Catherine said: “We are overwhelmed at the support we have received from family, friends and complete strangers. They have no idea how much this means to us and the little boy who has to now grow up with out the daddy he loved so much.”

She thanked Joanne and her nieces Charlotte and Kirstie for running the fundraiser, as well as everyone who has donated.

Catherine said the funeral will be at Eastbourne Crematorium at 12pm on Friday, February 9. Anyone who knew Dante is welcome. The wake will be at the old plough in Seaford at 2pm for close family and friends, and then from 4pm for others who would like to pay their respects to Dante in the bar.