Overview
- Florida Highway Patrol says the Nov. 15 collision on State Road 33 began when a 16-year-old attempted an illegal pass and lost control, sending her Scion into the path of a northbound Lincoln Aviator.
- The teen driver, identified as Jade, and her 17-year-old passenger, José Ivan, were pronounced dead at the scene, and Lake County Schools arranged grief counseling for students.
- Six-year-old Nickai Mixon, a passenger in the Aviator, remains hospitalized at Arnold Palmer Hospital after surgery for internal bleeding and what his family describes as a partially shattered spine.
- Nickai’s father says his son cannot feel his legs, and the family is commuting from Lakeland to Orlando while raising money for medical, travel and recovery expenses.
- Three others in the Aviator — the 75-year-old driver, a 66-year-old woman and a 5-year-old boy — sustained minor injuries, and FHP says the crash remains under investigation.