A 16-year-old girl was killed and her 15-year-old sister injured after the van the older teen was driving flipped over and crashed along State Road 520 early Thursday, Aug. 21, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
The siblings, both from Cocoa, were apparently returning to their grandparents’ home from an unknown destination, troopers report.
The older sister, who was driving the 2017 Dodge Grand Caravan, was pronounced dead at the scene of the 3:40 a.m. rollover crash.
It was not immediately known where the teens were coming from.
“We’re trying to figure that out. What we know is that the mom did not have custody and they both were staying with their grandparents. The grandparents were asleep when they went out,” Trooper Migdalisis Garcia told FLORIDA TODAY.
“It looks like they were on their way home,” when the crash happened, Garcia said.
“We’re still trying to figure out all of the dynamics involved.”
Troopers said the Caravan was traveling eastbound on State Road 520 in Cocoa and was approaching Cressa Circle when the crash happened. The driver, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was traveling above the speed limit when she lost control of the van and ran off the roadway, troopers reported. The van then flipped several times along the westbound lanes and struck a nearby guardrail. The 15-year-old, who suffered minor injuries, was wearing a seatbelt.
The crash briefly led to the shutdown of all westbound traffic along State Road 520 near the intersection of Cressa Circle. The roadway reopened about 6 a.m.
An investigation is ongoing.
J.D. Gallop is a criminal justice/breaking news reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallop at 321-917-4641 or jgallop@floridatoday.com. Or X, formerly known as Twitter: @JDGallop.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: FHP: 16-year-old Cocoa driver dies in overnight rollover crash; sister, 15, injured
Reporting by J.D. Gallop, Florida Today / Florida Today
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