POMPANO BEACH, Fla. – The Broward Sheriff’s Office has offered to pay for the funeral of 65-year-old Lurean Wheaton, who was killed last week when a Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue helicopter crashed into her apartment building in Pompano Beach.
After initially declining the agency’s offer through the family’s attorney, they have since decided to accept a reimbursement gesture, Local 10 News learned Wednesday.
Wheaton was killed Aug. 28 as she slept in her own bed when the chopper crashed through her ceiling. Her boyfriend survived by chance after making a random trip to the restroom.
The victim’s funeral expenses have already been taken care of and services are scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday at a church in her native South Carolina.
Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue Capt. Terryson Jackson, 50, also died in the crash.
“Unfortunately in the crash, he was trapped. (He) could not get out, and we lost him,” Sheriff Gregory Tony said last week at a press conference.
Pilot Daron Roche, 37, who has been with BSO for four years and firefighter/paramedic Mikael “Mike” Chaguaceda, 31, who has been with BSO for five years, were able to crawl out of the helicopter and survived their injuries.
Members of the FAA and the NTSB are investigating the circumstances leading up to the crash.