Jennifer Carvajal, 24, was driving 111 miles per hour just before 2 a.m. on Sunday when her vehicle went airborne and crashed into a car dealership along I-4, killing one and injuring three, according to Florida Highway Patrol.
Carvajal, of Tampa, served nearly four years in prison for a 2014 DUI manslaughter death in Plant City and is currently on probation for the case. She was released in Oct. 2019 for probation. According to Hillsborough Circuit Court Clerk records, she was then arrested in May for violating her probation with a drug-related charge and was sentenced to five more years probation.
FHP said a sergeant was traveling east on I-4 when he clocked a silver Hyundai Elantra going 111 miles per hour west along I-4. FHP said the sergeant pulled into the median and checked her speed again. It read 111 miles per hour. Then the car passed the sergeant and he once more saw it was 111 miles per hour.
He began pursuit of the car and as he caught up, the driver took a quick right turn and approached the shoulder where it hit the embankment and became airborne. It flew above the highway fence and collided with a Ford F-250 pickup truck that was parked at Gator Ford, 1780 Tampa Gateway Blvd. The blow didn’t bring the vehicle to a full stop and it kept moving, striking a concrete light pole and then a palm tree before it overturned in the parking lot.
The crash occurred at approximately 1:40 a.m. Sunday. The Florida Highway Patrol captured the crash on camera.
Highway Patrol said Carvajal wore a seatbelt, but the other four occupants of the vehicle did not. She received minor injuries. A 20-year-old Plant City woman was ejected from the rear seat and received serious injuries. A 22-year-old Plant City man was also ejected from the rear seat and was taken to the hospital in critical condition. Troopers said he died Sunday night. A 19-year-old Plant City woman was thrown from the front passenger seat into the rear passenger seat and was seriously injured.
Following the incident, Carvajal was arrested on charges of DUI-serious injury, reckless driving-serious injury, multiple counts of DUI property damage, driving without a license-serious injury and violating probation of the DUI manslaughter case from 2014. Troopers said her charges will be upgraded since the 22-year-old man died from his injuries.