- Annie Becerra’s accident occurred on November 30, 2018
- Police were ruled negligent in taking almost 90 minutes to find his body.
- A jury found in favor of his family in an $8 million judgment
The family of a 22-year-old woman who died in a high-speed crash has been awarded $8 million after it was discovered that first responders were negligent in taking nearly 90 minutes to find her.
Annie Becerra’s accident occurred on November 30, 2018, when she was in the passenger seat of her boyfriend Freddy Mieryteran’s Nissan Versa when he ran a red light and crashed into another vehicle.
Mieryteran fled the scene and hid when police arrived at the crash site and began interviewing people in the area without attempting to reach 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 “trapped between the passenger-side front floorboard and the dashboard.”
The young mother died from her injuries two days later, and her family sued Miami-Dade police and state troopers for negligence.
The family of a 22-year-old woman who died in a high-speed crash has been awarded $8 million after it was discovered that first responders were negligent in taking nearly 90 minutes to find her.
Annie Becerra’s accident occurred on November 30, 2018, when she was in the passenger seat of her boyfriend Freddy Mieryteran’s Nissan Versa when he sped through a red light and collided with another vehicle.
‘My daughter was my life,’ said Pablo Becerra NBC South Florida. “She was my first daughter, she was everything.”
Becerra’s daughter is now seven years old.
“After that, we didn’t really have a life,” his father added. “He changed everything.”
Family attorney John Lukacs Jr. Police did not act quickly enough to find Becerra’s body and save his life.
“If they had found it when they asked in a matter of minutes, because remember, Miami-Dade County was there in a matter of minutes,” Lukács said.
“If they had opened the door, they would have put her in a normal breathing position, given her oxygen, and that would have relieved the swelling in her brain.”
He also criticized the poor job they had done to find her because the passenger seat airbag had activated.
“There are no policies or procedures that provide for this exact situation, however, there are policies, procedures and memoranda that dictate that you use your common sense and your intelligence,” Lukács said.
One hour and 23 minutes after the crash, a Florida State Trooper was conducting an inventory of the crash when they discovered Becerra “trapped between the passenger-side front floorboard and the dashboard.”
Family attorney John Lukács Jr. Police did not act quickly enough to find Becerra’s body and save his life.
“My daughter was my life,” Pablo Becerra said. ‘She was my first daughter, she was everything’
Family attorney John Lukács Jr. Police did not act quickly enough to find Becerra’s body and save his life.
County attorneys argued that the car door had been damaged too much and therefore officers were not required to open it.
A jury decided in favor of Becerra’s family the amount of $8 million that Miami-Dade County will pay.
‘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,’ Pablo Becerra said.
State, county and local police have not yet commented on the decision.