LIGHTHOUSE POINT, Fla. – A mother whose daughter was driving a car that slammed into the back of the SUV in Lighthouse Point says when she saw video of the crash, she was stunned.
Nikki Raymond, whose 34-year-old daughter, Dana, died in the crash, told Local 10: “I couldn’t even imagine her driving that fast. She was always afraid of speed.”
The crash happened around 1:30 a.m. Saturday at the intersection of Northeast 49th Street and U.S. 1.
Surveillance video from a nearby business captured the accident on camera. It shows a white SUV stopped at a red light at the intersection, then soon after, another car driving southbound on U.S. 1 smashes into it. There’s a white flash on the video, which shows a burst of flames upon impact.
Raymond told Local 10 that a good Samaritan pulled her daughter out of the burning car, but it was too late. She said her daughter was driving a friend’s car.
According to Raymond, her daughter was on disability for a liver problem and may have had a medical issue behind the wheel.
Raymond learned about her daughter’s death when Broward County Sheriff’s Office came to her door early Saturday evening to let her know about the fatal accident. Raymond told Local 10 that deputies said that her daughter did not have any identification with her. She was identified by fingerprints and her tattoos. BSO said Dana Raymond died from blunt force trauma.
“And the sad part,” said Raymond, “another life ended, too.”
The name of the victim in the other vehicle has not been released.
“Another parent is going through this, too, and I’m so sorry for them,” Nikki Raymond said.
Also at the scene, surveillance caught another crash when an unmarked law enforcement vehicle blocking of the southbound lanes of U.S. 1 on Northeast 49th Street was hit by a car.
No word on any injuries reported in that crash.
Raymond, who lost her son several years ago, now has the difficult task of also burying her daughter.
“It’s just pain,” she said. “It’s like a wide open wound that never heals.”