APRIL 1, 2015
PALMETTO , FLORIDA
A man and a woman in the late stages of pregnancy were
killed as they slept early Wednesday when an SUV crashed into their Palmetto
mobile home.
The crash happened at 2:30 a.m. at the Lone Oak Park mobile
home park, 115 10th Street West. The unborn child also did not survive.
According to Palmetto police, the couple was identified as
21-year-old Ivan Carlos Tapia and 18-year-old Brenda Avilez.
Police said the Chevrolet SUV was headed north on U.S. 41 at
7th Street West when it crossed the median and the southbound lanes and crashed
through a fence along the east side of the mobile home park.
The SUV then struck the back of the home at Lot 108. Tapia
and Avilez were killed by the impact, authorities said.
"It woke everybody up," said Tapia's brother,
Christian Carlos, who also was in the mobile home at the time of the crash. “I
ran outside. I asked for him, I couldn't find him. I see him laying down on the
ground. I pulled him out, him and his girlfriend. They were dead already."
Family members say a baby shower was planned for the
following week. Tapia was working two jobs to save money for an apartment, and
the couple had decided on a name for the baby.
"[Tapia] told me her name was gonna be Devra,"
cousin Arcadio Santos said. "I was like, 'That's unusual,' but he said it
was something written in the Bible."
A tree stopped the SUV from crashing into the bedroom of the
mobile home next door, where Louis Urbina's 14-year-old son was sleeping.
"I had someone come and give me an estimate on removing
that tree, but I didn't have enough money," Urbina said. "Now I can
say it is a miracle. Thank God for that tree."
The driver of the SUV, 35 year-old Christian Crawford of
Bradenton, was transported to Manatee Memorial Hospital with non-life
threatening injuries.
Investigators are waiting on toxicology blood tests from
Crawford. Police say he did not show obvious signs of impairment.
The crash remains under investigation.
RIP, friends. See you
on the other side.