Liza Angulo, 17, killed after cement barrier from tractor-trailer falls on top of car
By Amanda Batchelor – Senior Digital Editor
PLANTATION, Fla. – The family of a 17-year-old girl who was killed in a crash on Interstate 75 last month has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a construction company.
Florida Highway Patrol troopers said Liza Angulo’s BMW struck a tractor-trailer that was pulling out of a construction site, and a cement barrier fell on top of her car.
A Mitsubishi also struck the side of the trailer and drove under it. The roof ripped open and the car ended up hitting a wall. Inside that car was Jonathan Astaphan, 29, who died at the scene, and Patricia Rolle, 25, who suffered serious injuries.
Angulo had just graduated from American Heritage High School shortly before the crash. She also had a full scholarship to the University of Miami.
“She was full of life. She had a scholarship,” Angulo’s mother, Aris Lopez, said. “I owe this to her for justice. She was a good kid. She was full of dreams and she wanted to got to UM. She got a scholarship. She did everything right. She did everything right and this was not supposed to happen to her.”
The teen’s family claims the accident was caused because of Ranger Construction’s negligence.
“We are very concerned with what’s happening on I-75, and really more than just the lawsuit, we want to make sure that Ranger Construction company goes ahead and takes care of the problem that’s going on there,” the family’s attorney, Carlos Silva said. “There’s construction in the area and all around where the accident happened.”
Silva said before the crash occurred, one or two lanes were blocked off allowing the construction vehicles to make it onto the highway safely and without interfering with other drivers.
But personal injury attorney Silva said there were no blocked lanes at the time of the crash, and the driver drove across the lanes of the highway, causing the crash.