A 20-year-old woman who survived the mass shooting at Pulse nightclub was killed Monday in a wrong-way crash on SR 417, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Jahqui Sevilla, 20, was killed Monday morning when she lost control of her Mitsubishi Lancer on SR 417 at University Boulevard and veered into the northbound lanes of Route 417, crashing head-on into an SUV, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
The driver of the SUV, Soraya Matias-Roth, 53, of Lakeland, was driving four of her children home after seeing a movie when they were hit, FHP spokesperson Kim Montes told News 6. Three of the children were hospitalized with injuries not considered life-threatening. Matias-Roth died in the crash.
FHP is investigating the crash.
Benigno Sevilla said his daughter was known for her smile, her personality and her sense of humor.
"She has, she had, a lot of spirit. She's very friendly. She's very outgoing, She can motivate a crowd. Motivate people. She was always an incredible girl. And incredible daughter," he said.
Jahqui Sevilla played on the women’s football team, the Orlando Anarchy, along with fellow Pulse survivor Paula Blanco, whose boyfriend, Cory Connell, was killed in the shooting.
The Orlando Anarchy issued this statement Tuesday about Jahqui Sevilla's death:
Jahqui Sevilla was taken from her family and her football family in a tragic automobile crash. Grief is not a sign of weakness. It is an emotional, physical and spiritual necessity of life. Grief allows each person time to turn a loss into a strong memory in the heart. When a person we love leaves us, we never lose them – they become more of a part of us. Jahqui Sevilla will always be in our hearts and a part of the Orlando Anarchy Family.
Jahqui Sevilla's profile picture on Facebook is a photo of her and Blanco posted June 12, 2016, in their Anarchy uniforms.
Jahqui Sevilla worked as a lifeguard at Universal’s Cabana Bay Resort and studied at the Orlando Medical Institute. Her father said she planned to be a firefighter.
"After [Pulse] she didn't do well with loud noises and dark places. She was going to UCF to get treatment with that and she was doing very good. She became more open," Benigno Sevilla said. "She could sleep at night in the dark. She had been improving. She was going back to school."
Jahqui Sevilla was in the Rose Bowl parade in January along with Pulse nightclub owner Barbara Poma, Commissioner Patty Sheehan and fellow survivors Victor Baez Febo and Isaiah Henderson.
Poma posted pictures of herself with Sevilla on the float Tuesday after hearing of the young woman's death.
“My heart is so broken with the loss of such a beautiful, pure soul," Poma wrote. "Jahqui Sevilla you are so loved, and I was so blessed to have gotten the chance to be in your life."
The survivors were invited to ride on the AIDS Healthcare Foundation float dedicated to the 49 people who were killed in the mass shooting June 12, 2016.
[MORE COVERAGE: Pulse Orlando Shooting]
The float featured an enormous floral dove flying above a memorial field of 49 white stars hovering over a floral garden.
Jahqui Sevilla is the second person who survived the mass shooting only to die in an unrelated tragedy.
Chris Brodman died in September while visiting friends in the Tampa area.
Jahqui Sevilla was taken from her family and her football family in a tragic automobile crash. Grief is not a sign of...
Posted by Orlando Anarchy Women's Football Team on Tuesday, May 30, 2017