Fund Created To Help Family Of Mom, Baby Found Dead

ACWORTH, GA — A GoFundMe account has been created to help pay for funeral costs of an Acworth mother and her baby who died earlier this week in Cherokee County. The fundraiser for Holly Whitley and her infant baby boy, Alex Fuentes, is seeking to raise $10,000 to cover the costs.

As of Sunday morning, less than $500 has been contributed to help Whitley's family. The funeral for Whitley and Alex will be held at 2 p.m. July 22 at Sosebee Funeral Home in Canton.

Fundraiser creator Amanda Celmer said Whitley, 31, leaves behind her fiance, Mario, their daughter, Ava, and many others who "will miss them very much." Celmer notes Whitley, who was her childhood best friend, is creating the fundraiser as a memorial fund and as a "token of my appreciation for many years of memories." Any donations made will go towards the cost of two funerals as well as any needs the family made need during this difficult time, she added.

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"Mario is understandably not working, at this time," she added. "He will be taking time off to grieve appropriately and to care for their daughter, who I'm certain is very sad and confused."

Whitley and Alex, who was six months old, were found deceased Tuesday, July 17 inside a home in the 2900 block of Cedar Mill Crossing, which is located off Kellogg Creek Road in southwest Cherokee County. Deputies with the Cherokee Sheriff's Office were dispatched to the home request of a family member "due to the lack of contact" with Whitley.

An autopsy conducted by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation on both bodies did not reveal a cause of death, but the sheriff's office said it did not find any signs of foul play. The GBI's report is pending additional testing. The toddler also found inside the home, Ava, was unharmed, the sheriff's office added.

"Mario and Ava have quite the road ahead of them," Celmer adds. "My hope is to take some financial strain off of Mario, as he and Ava try to move forward. Please keep the Whitley and Fuentes families in your thoughts and prayers."

Whitley and little Alex are survived by her fiancé and father, Mario Fuentes; daughter and sister, Ava Alana Fuentes; parents and grandparents, Donald and Beverly Whitley; and several cousins and many friends. You can consider making a contribution by clicking here.

Image via GoFundMe, a Patch partner