2 teens die after car crashes into lake in Sunrise

1 of the victims jumped into lake to try to help driver, authorities say

SUNRISE, Fla. – An investigation is underway after a driver crashed his vehicle into a lake in Sunrise late Tuesday night, resulting in the deaths of two teenagers.

Police say the driver lost control and crashed into the lake when a 17-year-old just walking by tried to save him. Unfortunately, they would both lose their lives.

The incident happened around 10:20 p.m. in the area of Northwest 12th Street and Silver Palm Boulevard.

Sunrise police said the 18-year-old driver of a four-door Lexus lost control of the vehicle and crashed into the water.

They said the teen who happened to be walking in the area jumped into the water to help.

“He was a very brave individual,” one man, who lives nearby, said.

Cellphone video shows first responders pulling one of the victims out of the water and performing CPR on him.

Both the driver and Good Samaritan were pulled out by first responders, but they both were pronounced dead, authorities confirmed.

The car was removed from the water Wednesday morning.

Rosie Fairlie lives in the neighborhood and told Local 10 News that her granddaughter is friends with the Good Samaritan.

“She called me and said, ‘Mena! Mena! My best friend is dead,’” Fairlie said.

According to Fairlie, the Good Samaritan was an 11th grader at Western High School in Davie.

Western High School Students learned about the selfless act of their classmate Wednesday, and now they are calling him a hero.

“Throwing yourself in there, trying your hardest. It is so sad what happened to him, but it is beautiful what he did,” Coral Funez said.

His mother took to social media, saying in part, “My son died a hero, my 17-year-old beautiful son. I am broken, he was my life.”

No other vehicles were involved in the crash.

The victims’ identities have not yet been released.


About the Authors:

Annaliese Garcia joined Local 10 News in January 2020. Born and raised in Miami, she graduated from the University of Miami, where she studied broadcast journalism. She began her career at Univision. Before arriving at Local 10, she was with NBC2 (WBBH-TV) covering Southwest Florida. She's glad to be back in Miami!

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