UM Student Killed Crossing Street
For the second time in a less than a month the University of Miami has had to send their condolences to the family of a student killed while crossing a street either on or near campus.
Now Police sources tell CBS4 that detectives want to know if the latest victim had been drinking at his fraternity house just before the accident that happened early Sunday.
And the Coral Gables Police Chief is reaching out to the University of Miami to see if some safety measures can be implemented that will help protect the school's students.
The latest accident happened Sunday around 1 a.m. Taylor Emmons, 19, was crossing San Amaro Drive when he was hit by a 2000 silver Toyota 4Runner. The SUV's driver, 39-year old Mary Jean, immediately stopped and called 911.
Emmons was rushed to Doctors Hospital in Coral Gables where he was pronounced dead.
The accident happened one block away from the Sigma Chi fraternity house. On Monday, no one at the fraternity wanted to talk about the accident. Its president, Andy Firestone, had released the following statement on Sunday:
"We are devastated by the loss of Taylor, our brother and our dear friend. All of our thoughts and prayers are with his family during this tremendously difficult time."
UM Senior Jonathan Bell had also heard that Police were looking into whether alcohol was a factor in this accident and whether Emmons had been drinking at his fraternity house.
"When you are crossing the street, you have to be careful," said Bell. "Alcohol? Well this is college. But I think that you have to know your limits."
"It's just really sad," said UM Senior Lindsay Stavola, as she prepared to catch a UM bus on busy San Amaro Drive. "This makes me want to be more careful. I do a lot of j-walking. You have to be more careful."
"I feel like there's more to the story that we don't know that will be unveiled," said UM Senior Payton Burden. She told CBS4's Peter D'Oench that, "I feel like we can learn a lesson for everyone."
UM spokeswoman Carla Hernandez said that as far as she knew, there were not any recent problems associated with the Sigma Chi fraternity house.
And Coral Gables Police also released a three-year study of crashes involving pedestrians in their city. Of 104 crashes detailed in the report, only two occurred on San Amaro Drive on the UM campus prior to Sunday's fatal accident.
It was a troubling loss even for students who didn't even know Emmons.
"We've probably done the same thing that this kid's done a million times, and it's just scary that it could have been us or anybody that we know," said Bryan Bodner, a UM student. "That's why it resonates even though we didn't know the kid."
The University of Miami also released a statement on Emmon's death:
"The University of Miami community is saddened to hear of the tragic death of student Taylor Emmons as a result of a pedestrian crash early this morning. Taylor was 19, a sophomore majoring in Entrepreneurship in the School of Business Administration and a member of Sigma Chi from Sarasota, Florida. The University extends its deepest condolences to his family and fellow classmates."
Coral Gables Police are investigating the accident. At this point they said they don't know if alcohol was a factor for either the student or the driver. Jean has not been charged with anything at this point.
Meanwhile the investigation continues into a second case of a UM student killed while crossing the street. Paul Jones was struck on November 13th while trying to cross Red and Blue Roads. He was rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital where he died ten days later. Police identified a local model, Valentina Hubsch, as the driver who hit Jones but they've yet to file charges.
"These are very complex investigations we want to be as fair and impartial as possible and take in all the evidence that's why we don't jump to conclusions," said Officer Kelly Denham of Coral Gables Police Department.
"This investigation could take some time," Denham told D'Oench on Monday. "You look at some investigations that seem to go one way and then more facts come out and the investigations take a different turn."
