Three Apopka teenagers who were killed over the weekend in a rollover crash have been identified.
According to a report from the Florida Highway Patrol, the fatal single-vehicle crash occurred at around 1:35 a.m. on Sunday, November 9, near the intersection of E Welch Road and Wekiwa Drive in Apopka.
The pickup truck involved in the accident, a 2020 Chevrolet Silverado, was occupied by six boys who ranged in age from 13 to 17. Three of those occupants – 17-year-old Enrique Rodriguez Sabas, 17-year-old Julio Lopez, and 13-year-old Leyner Velasquez – died from injuries sustained in the crash.
The FHP reported stated that the pickup truck was traveling eastbound on E Welch Road when it approached the intersection of Wekiwa Drive. The driver then proceeded to lose control of the vehicle while negotiating a curve in the roadway.
As a result, the pickup truck veered off the roadway to the right and struck a tree. The collision then caused the vehicle to overturn.
The 17-year-old male driver and two of the passengers, a 15-year-old boy and 14-year-old boy, were transported to local hospitals for treatment of injuries deemed “serious but not life-threatening.”
The remaining occupants – Rodriguez Sabas, Lopez, and Velasquez – sustained fatal injuries and were pronounced deceased.
A trooper noted in the report that two of the pickup truck’s six occupants were wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident.
The crash remains under investigation, according to FHP.