4 Morgan County children were orphaned after their parents died in a car crash on Halloween night, AJC.com reports.

Donald and Crystal Howard made a quick run to the store to buy candy and red face paint for their oldest son, 13-year-old Justin, who was dressed up as Freddy Krueger.

But as they hurried back home, the couple lost control of their SUV and collided into a tree about a quarter-mile from their house. They died instantly.

Georgia State Trooper First Class Nathan Bradley, who went to the home to notify the next of kin, found the 4 children waiting in their Halloween costumes.

The children, ranged in age from 6 to 13 years.

Bradley was heartbroken. He said the children told him their parents would be arriving home soon.

“When it comes to the investigation. we’re a little desensitized because it’s something we see all the time,” he told the AJC.

Bradley couldn’t bring himself to tell the children their parents were dead.

“It was important to me that I would not lie to them,” Bradley said. “I acknowledged their statement and threw out that their grandmother would be meeting with us later that evening.”

“Anyone hungry?” Bradley asked the four children.

He buckled them into his police cruiser and drove to McDonald’s for fries and a happy meal and then on to Burger King.

The restaurant manager gave each child a crown. Justin gave her a warm hug. “We give hugs in our family,” he told her.

Instead of calling DFACS to pick up the children and place them in foster homes, Bradley decided to take care of them himself.

The trooper took the kids to his GSP post, where residents who heard the tragic news stopped by with candy and toys.

The children went to sleep in makeshift bedrooms at the GPS post. Their grandmother, Stephanie Oliver, made the seven hour drive from Florida to break the sad news to the kids the next morning.

“We hoped that they would then relate the tragedy to Nov. 1, rather than Halloween,” Bradley said.

Bradley created a GoFundMe page to raise money for the 4 orphaned children.

Oliver plans to take the children back with her to Florida.