SANFORD, Fla. – The family of a woman who died in a crash on Interstate 95 in Volusia County the day after Christmas said they are devastated.
Sara Vasquez, 34, died after her family said she fell asleep while riding on the back of a motorcycle with her fiancé, Ricardo Bernal.
Now, her mom and stepdad, Maria and Alan Keyser, are in Sanford, where she used to live, trying to pick up the pieces days after her death.
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Maria Keyser remembered her daughter, Sara Vasquez, as “really, really, really, sweetheart baby. My little princess, always called her princess.”
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Vasquez fell off the motorcycle, hit a guardrail, and died while she and Bernal were riding along I-95 north.
“He thought the air would, you know, reinvigorate her or refresh her,” said Alan Keyser. “Well, when he took her out on the motorcycle ride, she was exhausted and it made her fall asleep.”
Authorities arrested Bernal after discovering his driver’s license was revoked as a habitual traffic offender.
The arrest report from FHP states Bernal had six prior infractions for driving with a suspended or revoked license and did not have the required motorcycle endorsement.
Vasquez was a mother to three boys, ages 14, 12, and 4. Alan and Maria said she shared the youngest child with Bernal.
Now, Maria and her husband, Alan, said they plan to raise the two older boys back home in Michigan, while the youngest would stay in Florida with Bernal’s family.
“We don’t really want to take the baby out of his environment because we’re strangers to him,” Keyser said. “We’re trying to do the most responsible adult thing that we can do.”
Bernal was given a $5,500 bond and bonded out over the weekend. He is facing multiple charges, including driving while license suspended/revoked resulting in death.
Alan and Maria have started a GoFundMe to help pay for funeral expenses and support her children. If you’d like to donate, click here.