Teen Killed When Stolen Car Crashes Into Barrier On I-95
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FT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) - A joy ride in a stolen Mazda ended in a deadly crash overnight on an I-95 ramp - leaving a mangled, flipped over car.
The alleged driver, 17-year-old Latroy Martin, was speeding when he failed to negotiate a turn and slammed into the concrete barrier wall at the State Road 84 exit ramp.
Martin was killed. The four other teens in the car, who had to be cut out, were seriously injured. They were taken to Broward Health Medical Center.
Family of all the victims turned to each other for comfort at the hospital. Latroy's mom had to be taken away on a stretcher after collapsing outside the ER.
"I don't know what they were out doing last night, I can't answer what his intentions were, where they was going, where they was coming from," said Martin's father. "He was just like any average 17-year-old, a person that was full of life, enjoying life and just having fun."
He said he got a call from the teen's mother who said there had been a bad crash and that their son was gone.
"I think it hasn't registered yet. I'm kinda like in disbelief. Eventually it will set in and it will hit me but for right now, I don't know, I just really have no feelings. I'm just kind of numb," he said.
His father said he spoke to his son just a couple of days ago - asking if he was ready for school to begin next week.
Martin's family said the others in the car were his cousins.
Ft. Lauderdale police said the Mazda had been reported stolen out of Palm Beach Gardens.
Investigators from the Fort Lauderdale Police Department went in and out of the hospital gathering information from survivors.