1 dead in wrong-way crash on Sawgrass Expressway

Car traveling north in southbound lanes slams into another vehicle

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. – One person is dead after a wrong-way crash on the Sawgrass Expressway early Wednesday morning.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, a driver was going northbound in the southbound lanes just before 5 a.m. when the Hyundai Sonata collided head-on with another vehicle.

The driver, identified as Harold Wilson Martinez, 36, was taken to Broward Health North and later pronounced dead. The driver of the second car, Cesar Nunez, 56, was also taken to the hospital in critical condition.

A third car hit Nunez's Toyota Corolla, swerved into a ditch and struck a tree. The driver of the Ford Taurus, identified as Nicholas Cassell, 18, was not injured. 

The southbound lanes of the expressway were closed for about four hours Wednesday between Coral Ridge Drive and Sample Road. All lanes reopened shortly before 10 a.m.

Troopers said several fatal wrong-way collisions have happened on the Sawgrass Expressway in recent years.

"I believe this is the third fatal wrong-way crash on the Sawgrass Expressway in several years," Sgt. Mark Wysocky said.

Just this past May, Kayla Mendoza was sentenced to 24 years in prison after driving drunk and getting into a head-on collision with another vehicle. Marisa Catronio and Kaitlyn Nicole Ferrante were killed in the November 2013 crash.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Wilson Martinez's family has created a GoFundMe page to help raise funds for his funeral expenses.

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About the Authors:

Amanda Batchelor is the Digital Executive Producer for Local10.com.