Pulse shooting survivor killed in wrong-way crash

Orlando Anarchy player Jahqui Sevilla dies in crash on Central Florida GreeneWay

Jahqui Sevilla, 20,(left) and Orlando Anarchy teammate and fellow shooting survivor Paula Blanco (right). Sevilla died May 29, 2017 in a wrong-way crash.

ORLANDO, Fla. – A 20-year-old woman who survived the mass shooting at Pulse nightclub was killed Monday in a wrong-way crash on the Central Florida GreeneWay, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Jahqui Sevilla, 20, was one of two people killed in the crash Monday morning on State Road 417 at University Boulevard, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

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FHP is investigating the crash.

Sevilla played on the women’s football team, the Orlando Anarchy, along with fellow Pulse survivor Paula Blanco, whose boyfriend, Cory Connell, was killed in the shooting.

The Orlando Anarchy issued this statement Tuesday about Sevilla's death:

Jahqui Sevilla was taken from her family and her football family in a tragic automobile crash. Grief is not a sign of weakness. It is an emotional, physical and spiritual necessity of life. Grief allows each person time to turn a loss into a strong memory in the heart. When a person we love leaves us, we never lose them – they become more of a part of us. Jahqui Sevilla will always be in our hearts and a part of the Orlando Anarchy Family.

Sevilla's profile picture on Facebook is a photo of her and Blanco posted on June 12, 2016 in their Anarchy uniforms.

According to her Facebook page, Sevilla worked as a lifeguard at Universal’s Cabana Bay Resort and studied at the Orlando Medical Institute.

Sevilla was in the Rose Bowl parade in January along with Pulse nightclub owner Barbara Poma, Commissioner Patty Sheehan and fellow survivors Victor Baez Febo and Isaiah Henderson.

Poma posted pictures of herself with Sevilla on the float Tuesday after hearing of the young woman's death.

“My heart is so broken with the loss of such a beautiful, pure soul," Poma wrote. "Jahqui Sevilla you are so loved, and I was so blessed to have gotten the chance to be in your life."

The survivors were invited to ride on the AIDS Healthcare Foundation float dedicated to the 49 people who were killed in the mass shooting on June 12, 2016.

The float featured an enormous floral dove flying over a memorial field of 49 white stars hovering over a floral garden.

Sevilla is the second person who survived the mass shooting only to die in an unrelated tragedy.

Chris Brodman died in September while visiting friends in the Tampa area. 

Jahqui Sevilla was taken from her family and her football family in a tragic automobile crash. Grief is not a sign of...

Posted by Orlando Anarchy Women's Football Team on Tuesday, May 30, 2017