The family of a young woman who died in a head-on crash in Volusia County is asking the Florida Highway Patrol to reopen the investigation into the collision, citing contradictory information in FHP reports, which differ on some important points, such as whose vehicle crossed into the other’s lane.
Kaylee Jean Kennedy, 19, was killed in the crash in the early morning of Sept. 1, 2024, on U.S. Highway 17 north of Lake Winona Road near DeLeon Springs. Kennedy had finished work and was driving to her boyfriend’s home when the crash occurred about 2:20 a.m.
But two FHP reports contain key differences about the crash that took the young woman’s life just 25 days short of her 20th birthday.
The initial report states that a Chevrolet Silverado pickup driven by Mauricio Martinez crossed into Kennedy’s lane and crashed into her Jeep Wrangler. But a traffic homicide report later stated it was Kennedy’s Jeep that crossed into Martinez’ lane.
Martinez, now 24, of DeLand, was injured and transported to Halifax Health Medical Center.
The two reports also don’t agree on exactly where the fatal crash happened, providing two locations about 1,672 feet apart.
And the Kennedy family’s attorney, Kelly Chanfrau, wrote in a letter to FHP that the traffic homicide report is devoid of evidence to support claims that Kennedy went off the road and then overcorrected before entering the pickup’s lane, a claim an expert hired by Chanfrau called “pure speculation.”
Chanfrau was retained by the Kennedy’s father, Darren Kennedy, who is also a Volusia Sheriff’s deputy.
“It’s just awful strange that one trooper had it almost down to a T, and the other trooper did a complete 180, swapping the vehicle, swapping everything, and there are no supplemental reports on why these items were changed or what evidence was found to change that on the homicide report from the initial crash report,” Darren Kennedy said in a phone interview.
FHP Section Commander Harold Schweinberg responded on June 3 to Chanfrau that the agency was reviewing the information she provided and the related traffic homicide report from Troop D in DeLand.
Chanfrau also received an email on June 4 from the “Office of Inspector General” with Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles stating that “after reviewing the complaint” it would be forwarded to the FHP Office of Professional Compliance.
The FHP has not responded to an email from The News-Journal with questions about the differing reports and whether it would reopen the case.
Florida Highway Patrol already looking at another case in which woman was wrongly arrested
The conflicting reports about the crash that killed the young woman brings up more questions about FHP. The agency is already conducting an investigation involving the case of Lindsey Isaacs, a former Palm Coast woman who was wrongfully accused by FHP of causing a hit-and-run crash last year that killed three people, including Flagler County deputy administrator Jorge Salinas and his wife, on Interstate 4 near DeBary.
Isaacs spent 13 days in the Volusia County Branch Jail before she was released on bond and eventually cleared after State Attorney R.J. Larizza’s office asked the FHP to review the case. The FHP subsequently arrested Alisa Lee Montalvo, of Deltona, and charged her in the crash.
Isaacs has filed a lawsuit in federal court against two FHP sergeants, Tiffany Jateff and Joshua Buday. Buday was also one of the supervisors who approved of the traffic homicide report in Kennedy’s case, according to Chanfrau’s letter.
Attorney asks Florida Highway Patrol to reopen case into crash that killed Kaylee Jean Kennedy
Chanfrau’s letter requests that FHP reopen the traffic homicide investigation into the crash that killed Kaylee Kennedy. Chanfrau asked that a “supplemental review” be conducted by a traffic homicide investigator and supervisor outside the DeLand/Volusia County area.
Chanfrau’s letter details inconsistencies between the initial crash report by Trooper R. Strack and the traffic homicide investigation by Corporal Laxmy De Leon
Strack’s report states that Martinez was southbound on U.S. 17 in a 2003 Chevrolet Silverado while Kaylee Kennedy was northbound in a 2015 Jeep Wrangler. The report states the Silverado driver “failed to keep in proper lane” and was “inattentive.”
Strack’s report states that Martinez’ Silverado drifted into the northbound lane and collided with the Wrangler.A diagram depictsthe Silverado crossing the centerline into the northbound lane and hitting the Jeep Wrangler.
But the traffic homicide investigation report by Corporal Laxmy De Leon reverses which vehicle crossed into the other’s lane. De Leon’s report concludes that Kaylee Kennedy “alone caused the crash,” the injuries to Martinez and her own death.
FHP reports differ on location of the same crash
The two reports even place the crash at different locations nearly a third of a mile apart. The traffic homicide investigation by De Leon states the crash occurred 4,312 feet north of Lake Winona Road. Strack’s crash report states it happened about 2,640 feet north of Lake Winona Road. That’s a difference of about 1,672 feet or nearly 1/3 of a mile, Chanfrau’s letter states. Neither report explains the discrepancy.
De Leon’s report has the speed limit in the area at 55 mph while Strack’s report has it at 60 mph.
The initial report indicates Martinez was using his shoulder and lap belt. The traffic homicide report states Martinez was not using his seat belt.
The crash report “unequivocally codes” Martinez as “inattentive” and as “failed to keep in proper lane.” But the traffic homicide investigation listed Martinez’ distractions as “none.”
Chanfrau’s expert finds gouging in road in Kaylee Kennedy’s lane
Chanfrau retained Beau A. Biller, “a fully accredited traffic accident reconstructionist.” Biller’s review of the photographs of the crash scene found that the “primary point-of-impact gouging” on the roadway was “primarily in the northbound lane, which is Ms. Kennedy’s lane of travel.” That is inconsistent with De Leon’s report which alleges Kennedy crossed into the southbound lane, Chanfrau wrote.
The traffic homicide investigation alleges that Kaylee Kennedy’s Jeep went off the north shoulder and she “overcorrected,” and spun “counter-clockwise across the centerline.” But Biller found no “documented evidence” of that in the report. Biller stated that without evidence the claim of overcorrection was “pure speculation.”
Pickup going 84 mph, no evidence of braking before crash, Chanfrau’s expert says
Biller reviewed the event data recorder from Martinez’s Silverado that showed immediately before the crash the Silverado’s speed increased from 81 mph to 84 mph. There was no evidence of braking. Biller concluded that Silverado’s speed was “clearly a contributing factor to this collision.”
A letter directing that Martinez’s blood be preserved was received by a nurse at Halifax Health, where Martinez was taken after the crash, according to dispatch records. But the traffic homicide report lists Martinez’ s toxicology as “none” without any explanation.
Chanfrau requests FHP to reopen case, determine if blood was drawn and tested
It appears that Martinez, who was found at the scene as “inattentive,” was not toxicologically tested, according to Chanfrau’s letter.
Chanfrau’s letter states that Kennedy’s family is entitled to a clear written accounting of whether blood was drawn, whether it was tested and what were the results of the test.
Kaylee Kennedy’s blood was tested and the tests were negative.
Chanfrau asks that FHP provide evidence supporting that claim that the Jeep went off the road before the crash or withdraw the allegation.
Chanfrau also asks that FHP re-examine the gouge marks in the area of the crash and reconcile those with traffic homicide investigations’ conclusion about the location of impact.
Chanfrau wrote that Kaylee Kennedy “was burned alive until she died” in the crash when her Jeep caught fire.
“The Kennedy family is entitled to an accurate, complete, and impartial investigation into the circumstances of their daugther’s death,” Chanfrau wrote in closing.
Frank Fernandez covers courts and criminal justice in Volusia and Flagler counties for the Daytona Beach News-Journal.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: FHP says it reviewing information in fatal crash near DeLeon Springs
Reporting by Frank Fernandez, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Frank Fernandez, Daytona Beach News-Journal | USA TODAY Network
