A 20-year-old woman, the daughter of a Florida deputy, died in a multivehicle crash on Interstate 95 in Titusville late Sunday after swerving to avoid an alligator.
Cassi Taylor, an employee of the Indian River County Sheriff's Office, was driving a Toyota Tacoma pickup truck shortly before midnight when she lost control. She was attempting to avoid a Mercedes that had struck an alligator on the highway. Taylor's truck overturned, and she was ejected from the vehicle. While she lay in the road, she was struck by a hit-and-run driver. Officials pronounced her dead at the scene.
Taylor was scheduled to be sworn in as a law enforcement official on Monday, just hours after the crash. She had joined the sheriff's office about a month prior as a civilian corrections assistant. Her father, Scott Burke, is a deputy with the Indian River County Sheriff's Office.
Investigators confirmed that the alligator was the cause of the initial incident and that the alligator was killed in the collision. The driver of the Mercedes, a 58-year-old Canadian, was not injured and remained at the scene.
Authorities are continuing to search for the driver who fled the scene of the crash. The sheriff's office issued a statement expressing sadness over the loss of a new team member. Friends of Taylor have remembered her as an "amazing young lady with a heart of pure gold who will dearly be missed."
Investigators also stated that Taylor was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.