Yanelly “Nelly” Zoller died on Sept. 14 at the Tampa home of her grandparents, Michael and Christie Zoller, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
“She just wanted some damn candy,” her father Shane Zoller, 22, told the newspaper on Wednesday.
Shane said he saw police activity when he came to pick her up on the day of the accident.
The father said that Nelly spent much of her time with her grandparents. He explained that he would have had to drop out of high school if his parents had not pitched in to help raise her.
“She was extremely close to them and would get so excited when she got to stay at her nana’s house,” he said. “She was attached to her nana’s hip.”
Tampa police told the newspaper they are investigating the case, but have no reason to doubt the family’s story.
Her obituary said that Nelly enjoyed playing with her dog, watching the cartoon Shimmer & Shine and jumping on the couch, according to Patch.
Shane — who shared custody of Nelly with her mother, the Associated Press reports — said that Nelly loved to help him work on the car.
“She would hand me tools,” he said. But she also really liked doing her makeup.”
Shane has one other child and is expecting another, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
The family mourned the girl’s death on social media.
“My beautiful nana’s girl fly high with those angels,” Christie, the grandmother, posted on Facebook with a photo of her granddaughter. “Rest with God pop tart.”
The family is raising money for Nelly’s funeral costs on crowdfunding websites GoFundMe.com and YouCaring.com.
“Small donations add up to a big donation,” the description on the YouCaring page reads.
“Please help this family give their beautiful Angel a farewell service. Let’s help take away some of the financial pressure of the sudden and expectant loss of a baby, a 4-year-old, who is now a beautiful Angel with wings in Heaven.”
This article originally appeared on PEOPLE.