Fourth sister dies after I-95 wreck in Fla.
MELBOURNE, Fla. — Photos posted online of four smiling sisters have taken on new, tragic meaning after of a deadly crash that cost them their lives and left several others seriously injured in a Memorial Day crash on Interstate 95.
Now the girls' mother — who was driving the 2006 Dodge Durango that lost a tire and veered off the highway — is left coping with the loss of four of her five children, according to friends.
“This is going to be a hard one for the community. Hopefully, we’ll pull together because she’ll need help,” said Gigi Riley, who has known the mother for years and watched as her children interacted with hers. She posted a tribute to the family on her Facebook page.
“The mother is a wonderful person, a good mother. It’s just horrible,” Riley said.
Latorya Brown, the 34-year-old mother, was released from the hospital as Florida Highway Patrol troopers investigate the crash. The family and friends in the vehicle were on their way back to home to Leesburg, northwest of Orlando.
“We’re still trying to sort out everything. The mother was so upset. We had to tell her that four of her children had died,” said Kim Montes, a spokeswoman for Florida Highway Patrol.
The single-vehicle crash happened 6:40 p.m. ET Monday, moments after the left front tire separated from the sport utility vehicle, sending it spinning and flipping multiple times on Interstate 95 near the Garden Street ramp in Titusville.
Troopers said there were 11 people packed into the northbound vehicle, many of them still in beach wear. The Durango typically seats up to eight people, according to car dealers and Kelly Blue Book’s website.
Several occupants, including a toddler found on the other side of a 30-foot barrier wall, were thrown from the Durango, authorities said. According to the most recent reports, investigators are still looking into how many of the occupants were wearing seat belts.
Brown was released from Wuestoff Medical Center — Rockledge with minor, injuries. She was wearing a seat belt.
“We’re talking a very violent crash with multiple people injured and taken to hospitals in different counties. Some of them were not wearing seat belts,” said Trooper Steven Montiero, a spokesman for Florida Highway Patrol, the agency investigating the deadly crash.
“Right now we are not (looking) at any kind of criminal charges for the mother. There may be some traffic-related charges, but nothing criminal. She was the mother of the ... children who were killed. It’s very tragic," he said.
Three of the four children who were killed, all sisters, were pronounced dead at the scene. The fourth sister died overnight at Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando.
The girls were identified as Amunya Cruz, 15, Niashia Cruz, 13, Nadia Cruz, 10, and Jasmine Cruz, whose age has not yet been released.
Almost immediately the passengers alerted the first responders about a missing toddler believed to have been strapped to a car seat. A search of the surrounding area began when rescuers heard a crying infant in the distance.
“We heard him crying and found him on the other side of the (sound barrier)," Montiero said. “It’s a miracle."
The baby, found in the back yard of a home, remains in stable condition.
"We're looking at at least six rear passengers, two up front. There's a mess-up in numbers here," Montiero said.
The horror of what happened was reflected on social media pages associated with the family.
“Can't sleep this really hurts me to know these kids... praying for you Latorya Brown….My heart hurts so bad I pray God encamps his Angel's Around y'all & ya family's,” wrote one friend on a Facebook page.
Another friend also offered up prayers.
“I couldn’t even put words together...just prayers (and) more prayers,” wrote Kelsey Henson.
Contributing: Chris Bonanno, Florida Today. Follow J.D. Gallop on Twitter: @JDGallop