POINCIANA, Fla. – Four people were killed, including three children, in an Osceola County crash Sunday evening, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Troopers said the quadruple fatal crash happened around 6:55 p.m. on San Miguel Street at Laurel Avenue in Poinciana.
The FHP said the crash was caused by a 15-year-old driver who ran a stop sign at a high rate of speed and struck an SUV, resulting in the death of four people in the SUV, including three children, ages 1, 9 and 11 years old. The FHP said the boy did not have a learner’s permit.
According to troopers, the 15-year-old boy was driving a 2012 Chevrolet Impala with three other 15-year-old boys in the car. The teen was speeding north on Laurel Avenue and did not stop at the intersection with San Miguel Street.
The front of the car struck the left side of a 2022 Honda HR-V, which was traveling west on San Miguel, the FHP said.
The Honda rotated onto a grass shoulder and collided with a light pole, according to an FHP crash report.
Michele Torres ran to help after the crash happened behind her home.
“I saw just the devastation of everything,” she said. “We’ve had people drive through our neighbor’s fence at least a dozen times almost into their house from that intersection.”
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Torres said a lot of people run the stop signs and Laurel Avenue “is known for speeding.”
“I don’t know if a four-way stop sign would work, but it’s at least a start to try. You’re always going to have irresponsible people doing dumb things driving. Especially teenagers,” she said.
She said she assessed the 15-year-old driver, calmed him down and kept him at the scene.
“That’s all he kept asking me is, ‘Am I going to jail? Ma’am, am I going to jail?’” she said.
The driver of the Honda, a 50-year-old woman, and one of the children were pronounced dead at the scene, the FHP said. Two other children died at the hospital, according to troopers. A 52-year-old man survived the crash but suffered serious injuries, the FHP said.
The teen driver suffered serious injuries and was taken to a hospital, the FHP said. The other three boys were taken to hospitals with minor injuries, according to the crash report.
“I just pray for them. I wish that I could have helped even more,” Torres said.
The crash remains under investigation.
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