Articles Posted in Wrongful Death

Police delay has further complicated the investigation into the death of the Associate Dean at Fort Lauderdale’s Keiser University. Last Wednesday, 39-year-old Elias Konwufine died at Broward Health Medical Center within hours of being run over by his own vehicle as a tow truck driver attempted to remove it from Konwufine’s driveway in the Sienna Green condominium complex of Lauderhill. The man’s death has now turned into a full-blown traffic homicide investigation, which may have been irreparably tainted by the police’s failure to secure the crime scene and tow truck.

There are conflicting accounts of what exactly led to Konwufine’s death, but it is clear that it began when a tow truck driver arrived at Konwufine’s residence in an attempt to remove his vehicle. His vehicle was supposedly sticking out of his driveway into the sidewalk area in violation of condominium association rules. The tow truck driver claims that Konwufine “jumped on the running board of the tow truck and was pounding on the window.” The driver claims that he saw Konwufine “get back off the truck,” but then he felt “a bump,” which is presumably when Konwufine was run over by his own vehicle. Other witnesses state that this is not an accurate depiction of what occurred that day.

As the tow truck drove away, Konwufine’s wife saw her husband laying on the sidewalk with blood coming from his forehead. An ambulance and police soon arrived. Both departed the scene at the same time, police claiming that they believed the injuries were not that serious. The police did not return to the scene until after they had learned of Konwufine’s death. Konwufine’s vehicle remains in the police impoundment lot, while the tow truck has not been seized by police. Investigations continue in the case.

Tow truck death investigation may have been complicated by police delay, say lawyers, www.sun-sentinel.com January 21, 2013

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Last week, a plane travelling from Fort Pierce to Knoxville, Tennessee when their small plane experienced mechanical failure and crashed into a Palm Coast house before bursting into flames. The plane attempted to land at a central Florida airport but was unable to make it. The pilot, Michael Anders, told air-traffic controllers that the plane had been smoking and vibrating, while dealing with oil pressure and bad weather problems right before the crash.

Florida Highway Patrol has identified the three victims of the crash as pilot Michael Anders, Duane Shaw and Charissee Peoples. Controllers were trying to “use a surveillance approach to guide the plane into the Flagler County Airport,” but Anders warned the controllers that the plane was going to drop quickly. Moments later, the plane fell.

Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board were at the site of the crash the day after to investigate the matter. The crash “produced an intense heat fire that consumed a lot of the wreckage.” Investigators plan to send the plane’s engine to the manufacturer for closer analysis.

3 victims ID’d after plane crashes into Fla. home, www.miamiherald.com January 05, 2013

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An eastern Oregon bus crash killed nine passengers on December 30, 2012 and now two of the survivors have filed lawsuits against the bus company. The lawsuit alleges that the driver was tired, did not head to warnings and was going too fast on a road with patches of snow and ice. The two survivors, two teenage South Korean exchange students, were among thirty-eight total people injured in the crash.

The lawsuit against Mi Joo Tour & Travel states that the bus driver “doubled” as a tour guide and had worked over 90 hours without any relief in the first eight days of the nine-day tour package. Federal regulations limit driver to a maximum of 70 hours in an eight-day span. On the last day of the tour, the bus departed a hotel in Boise, Idaho and traveled about 200 miles over the course of three hours before crashing through a guardrail and falling 200 feet down an embankment. Police have yet to determine the cause of the crash, but the crash occurred on a cold, overcast morning on a flat and straight stretch of the road. The posted speed limit for trucks and buses was 55 miles per hour, but police are still unsure of how fast the bus was travelling. The attorney for the exchange students stated that the driver “was going ‘just too fast
for the ice and the snow and the fog’ and not necessarily exceeding the speed limit.”

The driver of the bus, Haeng-Kyu Hwang, was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit. One of the two exchange students was knocked unconscious during the crash and both were hospitalized for eight hours after the accident. The lawsuit has not listed a damage amount as the attorney stated that the extent of the injuries remains unknown at this time.

2 survivors of Oregon bus crash file, www.miamiherald.com January 07, 2013

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Earlier this week, reports indicated that two passengers died as a result of the bus crash at the Miami International Airport. Now a third passenger has passed. The bus, which crashed into a concrete overpass last week, killed 86-year-old Serafin Castillo and 56-year-old Francisco Urana on the day of the accident. Ryder Trauma Center announced Monday that 75-year-old Gliceria Emerida Garcia died as a result of injuries sustained in the accident.

Police have not charged the driver, who crashed into an overpass on December 1, 2012 while carrying thirty-two members of a Jehovah’s Witness group. The driver got lost and found himself at the Miami International Airport. All of the 30 injured passengers were taken to the hopistal. Nine of the thirteen passengers taken to Ryder Trauma Center/Jackson Memorial Hospital have been released. Two of the four still being held are in good condition.

As previously reported, the families of two of the deceased passengers and one of the injured passengers have filed negligence lawsuits against the bus driver and the bus company. The bus is privately owned and was typically used for tours.

Third passenger dies after Miami airport bus crash, www.miamiherald.com December 05, 2012

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Last weekend, on December 1, 2012, several passengers died and several more were injured in a bus crash at Miami International airport. The survivors and the families of the deceased have since filed lawsuits claiming the bus driver and the bus service company was negligent. The family of Francisco Ureña, one of the two passengers who died in the accident accused the bus driver of negligent homicide.

The bus driver, Ramón Ferreiro, a worker for Miami Bus Service Company, was driving thirty-two members of a local Jehovah’s Witness congregation to a general assembly in West Palm Beach when he got lost. Confused when he found himself at the airport, Ferreiro drove the 11-foot high bus past several signs indicating that the maximum height allowed was 8 feet, 6 inches and into the arrival area. He smashed the 11-foot-tall bus into an overpass, injuring thirty passengers onboard and killing the passengers closes to the front. All of the injured passengers went to local hospitals. According to reports, he took a wrong turn on Le Jeune Road and was speeding when he crashed into the overpass.

Families and survivors who have filed suit claimed they could not comprehend how Ferreiro missed the warning signs. “It is really mind-boggling how he could not pay attention to all the warnings that were there before his eyes when he is supposed to be a professional driver,” said one survivor’s attorney. “We find it to be total negligence and carelessness.” Ferreiro has not been charged criminally with any wrongdoing in the crash.

Families, survivors file suit in MIA bus crash, www.miamiherald.com December 04, 2012.

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A tractor-trailer that killed two Maryland construction workers was not registered to commercial operate and was operate with faulty breaks. The truck, which is registered to Noble Enterprise Transport LLC, of Fort Lauderdale, had “three of ten brakes not functioning at all and another three out of adjustment,” according to the police investigation. The truck had been legally prohibited from travelling the in state and was speeding at the time of the accident.

The tractor-trailer, which was carrying oranges through Maryland, overturned onto the Ford F450 trucks the victims were driving. Both victims were pronounced dead at the scene of the accident. Another passenger in the Ford was taken to a local hospital and has since been discharged. The construction company, Garey Construction Inc., which owns the Ford, is still trying to determine whether the faulty brakes on the tractor-trailer played a role in the accident.

A passenger in the tractor-trailer also suffered minor injuries and has since been released from the hospital. Tractor-trailer drivers are required to keep logbooks, but police were unable to find one for the driver of the truck and his co-driver’s logbook contained falsifications. The driver, Watson Pierre, was taken into police custody after he was released from a nearby hospital and is being charged with two counts of criminally negligent homicide and failure to control speed to avoid a collision. In order to find Pierre guilty of criminally negligent, homicide, prosecutors must demonstrate that Pierre substantially deviated from an ordinary standard of care.

Truck involved in double fatal had broken brakes, www.miamiherald.com November 13, 2012.

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