MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Family members are releasing details about the two teenagers involved in a deadly southwest Miami-Dade crash Wednesday that killed one and seriously injured the other.
The crash happened at around 3 a.m. along Miller Drive, underneath the Florida’s Turnpike overpass. Police said they had attempted to pull over a vehicle that someone had reported as suspicious when the driver, a 15-year-old boy, took off and crashed.
Family members identified the driver of the gray Audi SUV as Anthony Jayden Gago. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Jazmin Keltz, his 14-year-old passenger, was rushed to HCA Florida Kendall Hospital Wednesday morning in critical condition and in need of emergency surgery.
“It doesn’t appear that the mom had any clue that he had taken this car,” Detective Alvaro Zabaleta, a Miami-Dade Police Department spokesperson, said Wednesday.
Loved ones gathered for a vigil Wednesday night, lighting candles and grieving together.
“Anthony was a bright and compassionate young man who will be sorely missed,” Gago’s cousin, Danny Garcia, said in a statement to Local 10 News. “The Gago and Betancourt families are devastated and reeling from his passing.”
Students at John A. Ferguson Senior High School, where both teens attended, held a moment of silence in class Thursday.
“(It’s) such a sad tragedy, because this is the stuff that your parents warn you about and just to see another life lost is very heartbreaking,” student Emily Fletes said.
Police called the incident “tragic.”
Attorney Michael Feiler is representing the Keltz family and said she continued to fight for her life Thursday.
“The family is just praying for a miracle,” he said. “We will fully investigate and will do whatever it takes to bring closure and justice to this family.”
Gago’s family members set up a GoFundMe page to help with expenses. Keltz’s family did as well.