Family is awarded $8million after their 22-year-old daughter was killed in a high-speed wreck and it took cops NINETY MINUTES to find her pinned between the floor and dashboard of the mangled car
- Annie Becerra’s crash occurred on November 30, 2018
- It was ruled that police had been negligent in spending almost 90 minutes finding her body
- A jury ruled that her family awarded them $8 million
The family of a 22-year-old woman killed in a high-speed crash has been awarded $8 million after first responders took nearly 90 minutes to find her pinned in the mangled wreckage.
The accident that killed Annie Becerra occurred on November 30, 2018, when she was in the passenger seat of her boyfriend Freddy Mieryteran’s Nissan Versa when it ran a red light and struck another vehicle.
Mieryteran fled the scene and hid when police arrived at the scene of the crash and began interviewing people in the area without attempting to get to Becerra’s body.
One hour and 23 minutes after the crash, a Florida State Trooper was conducting an inventory of the crash when they discovered Becerra “sandwiched between the passenger side floorboard and the dashboard.”
The young mother died from her injuries two days later, with her family suing Miami-Dade police and state troopers for negligence and being awarded millions of dollars for their mistake and missing a chance to save her life.
The family of a 22-year-old woman killed in a high-speed crash was awarded $8 million after first responders were negligent in taking nearly 90 minutes to find her
The accident that killed Annie Becerra occurred on November 30, 2018, when she was in the passenger seat of her boyfriend Freddy Mieryteran’s Nissan Versa when it ran a red light and struck another vehicle.
“My daughter was my life,” Pablo Becerra said NBC South Florida. “She was my first daughter, she was everything.”
“We really had no life after that,” her father added. “It changed everything.”
Police family attorney John Lukacs Jr. did not act quickly enough to find the body of Becerra — who was the mother of a now 7-year-old child — to save her life.
“They could have found her within minutes of asking, because remember, Miami-Dade County was there within minutes,” Lukacs said.
“If they had opened the door, they would have just put her in a normal breathing position, given her oxygen, and that would have relieved the swelling in her brain.”
He also berated the poor track officials who undertook to find her because the passenger seat airbag deployed.
“There are no policies or procedures that address this exact situation, but there are policies, procedures and memos that require them to use common sense and intelligence,” Lukacs said.
An hour and 23 minutes after the crash, a Florida State Trooper was conducting an inventory of the crash when they discovered Becerra “sandwiched between the passenger side floorboard and the dashboard.”
Family Attorney John Lukacs Jr. said police did not act quickly enough to find Becerra’s body to save her life
“My daughter was my life,” Pablo Becerra said. ‘She was my first daughter, she was everything’
Police family attorney John Lukacs Jr. did not act quickly enough to find Becerra’s body to save her life
Attorneys for the county argued that the car door was too damaged and therefore officers did not need to open it.
A jury ruled in favor of Becerra’s family up to $8 million, to be paid out by Miami-Dade County.
“I don’t know how to explain it to you, every day that passes I still feel the pain and I still feel it in my heart,” said Pablo Becerra.
State, county and local police have not yet commented on the decision.