UPDATED – 7:48 a.m. Wednesday
FELLSMERE – A 6-year-old died and four others were seriously injured in a single-vehicle crash just south of County Road 512 on Interstate 95 Tuesday evening.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, 48-year-old Elvire Francois, of Fellsmere, was driving a 1998 Isuzu Rodeo SUV north on the highway in the inside lane when he lost control of the vehicle.
The vehicle swerved into the grassy median and then back onto the highway, FHP said, but then Francois overcorrected and the vehicle went back into the grassy median and overturned.
The child, Jimmy Laveus, of Fellsmere, was not wearing a seatbelt or other restraint and was pronounced dead on the scene, according to the Florida Highway Patrol report.
The other four people in the vehicle, including the driver, sustained serious injuries and were transported to various medical centers.
Those in the vehicle included Francois, 11-year-old Emlinen Laveus, 13-year-old Tamisha Laveus, 17-year-old Daphne Laveus, all of Fellsmere, and 69-year-old Franckel Altidor, of Ft. Pierce.
It is unclear from the FHP report if anyone was wearing a seatbelt. The only passenger identified one way or the other was Jimmy Laveus.
Charges against the driver, Elvire Francois, are pending the outcome of the ongoing investigation into the fatal wreck.
