Lawsuit filed against City of Homestead in deaths of 3 teens

MIAMI - Two attorneys and the parents of two teenagers who were killed when their car went into a canal are suing the City of Homestead, saying police should not have been pursuing their vehicle at a high rate of speed two years ago.

The crash took the lives of 14-year-old Rhianna Vargas, 14-year-old Terence Valdivia and another teen. A family attorney said only the 15-year-old driver survived.

Outside the Miami-Dade Courthouse in Miami, Rhianna's emotional mother Norma Vargas said "No parent should have to bury their kid. This is one of the worst feelings in the world and we miss her. We just want Homestead police to own up to their responsibilities and take their part in it."

Alayn Hernandez, the father of Valdivia, said "It's hard. Every day when I go to work I have this picture every day that many son is gone because of some negligence of some cops in Homestead."

Attorneys say it all started when their black Toyota Camry was spotted by police making a right turn at a red light without coming to a stop around 3 am on Feb. 13th of 2021. The officer lost sight of the car.

At 4 a.m, another officer spotted it and that lead to a high-speed pursuit, said the attorneys. They said the car went airborne and crashed into the canal, trapping Vargas in the car and Valdivia was ejected. 

Attorneys said one officer saw the vehicle sink into the canal and did nothing to intervene or render aid. The crash happened in a remote area of Homestead not far from the International Speedway at the intersection of East Palm Drive and Old Palm Drive.

Attorney Joni Mosely told CBS4's Peter D'Oench, "A city of Homestead Police officer chased a car full of teenagers causing the car to crash in a canal and left the kids to die. The truth is you can only chase if there is a forceable felony and the officer had no reason to believe there was a forceable felony. This was a minor traffic infraction."

Attorney Ariel Lett said the officer who pursued the teens showed a "lack of impulse control" by "pursuing them at over 100 miles per hour over a traffic ticket."

At the time, Detective Eric Rodriguez told CBS4 the car the teenagers were in cut off an officer and he said "Twice in the night officers attempted to stop this vehicle and each time it turned off its lights and fled."

Mosely and attorney Ariel Lett filed the lawsuit on February 1st and are seeking $15 million for each of the two parents they are representing.

Mosley said three counts are cited in the wrongful death lawsuit. Count 1 says officers engaged in a high-speed chase and caused the crash. Count 2 says they failed to render aid. Count 3 says police were negligent in the hiring and supervision of the officer who pursued the teenagers' car.

In a statement, Police spokesman and Captain Fernando Morales told CBS4, "On behalf of the Homestead Police Department our hearts and condolences to out to the families. But as Customary we can not comment on open litigation."

There was no further comment from the city. CBS4 also reached out to the City of Homestead as well for comment.