Video shows car speeding 115 mph before deadly crash
TAMPA (FOX 13) - There is new proof this morning that speed played a role in a tragic crash that killed five people in Tampa.
The Florida Highway Patrol released Snapchat video that was recorded inside the car believed to have caused a head-on crash on MLK Boulevard Wednesday night.
The video includes two snaps with an overlaid filter showing the car going 82 miles an hour, and then increasing in speed to 115 miles per hour. It does not show the crash.
Troopers downplayed rumors that the car was racing, but the footage "appears to support the belief that speed played a factor in this crash, as originally stated yesterday by FHP," Sgt. Steve Gaskins explained.
Pablo Cortes, 22, and his 19-year-old passenger were in the car. According to FHP, Cortes was speeding down MLK when he lost control, went over a median, and crashed. Both died.
A mom and four kids were on their way home from church when they were hit head-on by Cortes. The mom, Marianela Murillo, and her two youngest kids, Josh and Maria, died.
Family members say two older girls who were in the van are in critical, but stable condition.
Grief counselors were on hand Thursday at Mango Elementary, where Josh and Maria were in fourth and fifth grades. The family said their father, John, was too overcome with grief to speak.
"I'm very sad," said his cousin, Jose Cicedo, who was at Tampa General Hospital, where the older girls are being treated. "My heart is broken."
"They were hard-working people. The nicest people you'll ever want to meet, said Gisela Martinez, a cousin. "The kids light up any room. Their teachers are going to miss them. Their friends are going to miss them. We definitely miss them already."