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Donations pour in for families of Atlanta shooting victims
(AP Photo/Ben Gray)Shortly after his mother was killed in the Atlanta-area shootings, Randy Park launched a GoFundMe page asking for $20,000 to pay for funeral expenses. For now, donors to victims of the Atlanta shootings must scour individual GoFundMe accounts. A page for Yong Yue’s family drew more than $115,000. AdPark's family was the first to launch a GoFundMe page. This is simply a change in my life,” Park wrote to the 70,000 people who had contributed as of Sunday afternoon.
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Investigators say fire in Fort Lauderdale home started in teen girl’s room
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A 16-year-old girl was taken to Broward Health Medical Center Friday morning after a fire erupted inside of a home in Fort Lauderdale, authorities confirmed. Investigators said Friday that the fire started in an electrical outlet not far from the girl’s bed. Fort Lauderdale firefighters work to extinguish house fire. Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Stephen Gollan said the smoke detectors inside the home saved the family’s lives. .they aren’t able to open a window and go out that way because it is blocked by the hurricane shutters,” Gollan said.
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GoFundMe page set up for family of 13 displaced after fire in Miami Gardens
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – A GoFundMe page has been created for a family of 13 who were displaced after a fire erupted Wednesday inside their home in Miami Gardens. “We had heavy smoke showing from multiple sides of the structure,” Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Assistant Chief Ray Jadallah said Wednesday. These four children were among the six kids who were home April 1 when their home caught fire in Miami Gardens. Olgance Anice, 31, who uses a wheelchair, was also hospitalized, according to the GoFundMe page. A neighbor who witnessed the fire said the family members were breaking windows, trying to get everyone out of the burning home.
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Unverified GoFundMe accounts appear to raise money for family of slain UPS driver
HIALEAH, Fla. – Several apparently fake GoFundMe accounts have been created to raise funds for the family of Frank Ordonez, the UPS driver gunned down during Thursday’s shootout in Miramar. However, only two of the funds have been verified and will guarantee delivery of donations to the Ordonez family. The other account, which can be FOUND HERE, has been created by a fellow UPS driver named Ray Mathers. His account will disburse the funds raised through the local drivers union in South Florida. None of the other GoFundMe accounts listed on the page have been verified by the family, although they may also be planning on donating the money to the family.

Trick-or-treating family dies after Halloween night crash
GoFundMeLONG BEACH, Calif. - An entire family trick-or-treating on Halloween night was killed after a suspected DUI crash. The Los Angeles Times reports Raihan Awaida, 32, died Sunday of injuries suffered in the accident, days after her husband Joseph and 3-year-old son died following the crash in Long Beach. The Awaida family was walking on the sidewalk while trick-or-treating when they were struck by a 2002 Toyota Sequoia. The driver of the vehicle, Carlo Navarro, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and gross vehicular manslaughter. A GoFundMe page had already raised nearly $198,000 for funeral expenses for the family.

Girl, 17, succumbs to brain injury in tragic golf cart accident
DAVIE, Fla. - A teenage girl who was thrown from a flipped golf cart in Davie on Sunday has died. Ashely Pereira, 17, was in a golf cart with friends heading east on Dykes Road over an I-75 overpass when the vehicle flipped and she suffered a serious brain injury, officials said. Residents in the sprawling communities of Davie and Southwest Ranches say that kids driving golf carts is a common occurrence. One resident told Local 10 reporter Andrew Perez that he knew of another victim who needed a metal plate put in their head after the golf cart they were in flipped. "We've seen kids on these things where they pack them six, seven, eight in a cart," another resident said.

Doctor living in Miami falls to his death during vacation in Ibiza
MIAMI - Dr. Daniel Sirovich died while attempting to take a picture of a beautiful beach in Ibiza, Spain, his fiance's mother told the Staten Island Advance. Sirovich's friends in South Florida are mourning him after he died Wednesday during his vacation in Ibiza, Spain, a family friend reported on GoFundMe. Diario De Ibiza reported Sirovich fell about 82 feet Wednesday in an area known as Atlantis near Sa Pedrera de Cala d'Hort. Sirovich was with his fiance, Kristi Kelly, a physician's assistant student in Miami, according to Sirovich's friend Gui Ramos. Sirovich's co-workers are planning a vigil at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the KRMC's Room 758 at 11750 SW 40 St. in Kendall.

Pa. duo faked birth, death for GoFundMe
The couple raised a total of $550 from the GoFundMe, according to a company spokeswoman. Photographs of baby Easton were posted on the couple's Facebook pages, and the baby matched the "appearance of a newborn look-a-like baby doll," the complaint said. Police say they were unable to find any record that baby Easton ever existed. Police checked with the coroner's office in Somerset and Cambria County and neither had records of an Easton Lang, according to the complaint. CNN has also attempted to reach out to the people who gave the couple money and gifts.

Pompano Beach man remains unconscious after being struck by lightning
POMPANO BEACH, Fla. - A Pompano Beach man remains unconscious days after being struck by lightning. Nick Williams was outside in the Leasureville community on Sunday, sitting under a tree in his wheelchair when he was hit by the lightning strike. According to a GoFundMe account created in Williams' name, his wheelchair was on fire when the woman arrived. Pompano Beach Fire Rescue found Williams burned and unconscious under the tree in his wheelchair. Photo shows where lightning struck the wheelchair of Nick WilliamsThe 28-year-old was later transferred to the Ryder Trauma Center Burn Unit in Miami due to his injuries.

BSO identifies deputy killed in Deerfield Beach crash
DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla. - A deputy hired by the Broward Sheriff's Office last year was killed in Sunday morning's Deerfield Beach crash. BSO spokeswoman Veda Coleman-Wright said Nimtz's cruiser collided with a Toyota Tundra pickup truck at the intersection. Bell said Nimtz's wife and two children, ages 18 months and 3 years, had already moved back to Indiana to settle into their new home. Bell said Nimtz's wife was traveling to South Florida. Anyone who witnessed Sunday's crash is asked to call BSO traffic homicide Detective Carlos De Jesus at 954-321-4842.
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Family of drowning victim needs help, relative says
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – Fritznel Pierre, a student at Fort Lauderdale High School, was swimming in a lake with his friends when he drowned. Fritznel's family wasn't financially prepared to cover his funeral costs, the boy's uncle Olvenso Savoie said. Savoie described him as kind and caring teen. His friend Jasmin Montes, who shared the GoFundMe account with Local 10 News, described him as a "kind hearted" and "amazing" boy. "This has been a extremely devastating time for me and all of his close friends," Jasmin said.