A 5-year-old girl was killed on Nov. 5 in her front yard after an enraged Hudson, Florida woman got behind the wheel of her car and sped away from her house after a fight with her boyfriend.
Florida Highway Patrol estimates that the Jeep accelerated to somewhere around 44 mph before the woman lost control of her vehicle. The collision site was about 50 paces from the woman’s home.
The Florida woman allegedly lost control of her vehicle and jumped a curb, flattened a neighbor’s mailbox and smashed into a neighbor’s yard. She then hit a parked truck and drove into a group of small children, including the triplets. Two of the three were hit.
The woman was allegedly ejected from the Jeep, which kept rolling and hit the triplets’ parents’ van parked in their driveway.
One of the two triplets was pronounced dead the following morning at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa.
The other triplet hit by the accident suffered two weeks in the hospital with two broken clavicles, a broken pelvis, several broken ribs, a broken right leg, a collapsed lung and internal bleeding, according to the St. Petersburg Times.
The woman driving the vehicle suffered minor injuries. She faces criminal charges of vehicular homicide, reckless driving involving serious bodily injury and reckless driving involving property damage. She was issued infractions for no insurance, defective equipment and not wearing a seat belt.
The Hudson woman remained in Pasco County jail Friday evening with bail set at $15, 250.
Most motor vehicle accidents are unintentional and due to a driver’s distraction, which in this woman’s case was frustration from a disagreement with her boyfriend. For the vehicular homicide charge this woman is facing a Second Degree Felony with high fines and a maximum sentence of 15 years imprisonment along with a license revocation for a three-year minimum.
A wrongful death can transpire when the actions of a person are found to be negligent and the legal cause of another individual’s injury ultimately leading to death that could have been avoided. Under Florida law, the victim’s family would need to file a lawsuit within two years of the accident. Other forms of civil lawsuits must be filed in four years, so it is important for the family to act swiftly if they choose to file a claim so they do not lose the ability to do so.
If you or a loved one has been affected by a motor vehicle accident in New Port Richey or throughout the state of Florida, call the Florida Wrongful Death Attorneys at the Law Offices of Whittel & Melton, LLC online or call 1-866-608-5LAW (5529).