LAKE COUNTY, Fla. – A community is mourning after two teenagers who died in a fiery crash early Sunday morning.
Family members at a vigil on County Road 565 identified the victims as 17-year-old Chrystobal Hernandez and 19-year-old Brayan Negrete. Neighbors and friends placed crosses bearing the teens’ names at the scene.
The crash happened just before 1 a.m. Saturday at County Road 565 and Sloans Ridge Road.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, a 2018 Dodge Challenger traveling southbound lost control, ran off the right side of the road, struck multiple trees, and was engulfed in flames. Both teens were pronounced dead at the scene.
News 6 reporter Jarell Baker was at the vigil and spoke with family members, who described the loss as devastating and said the two were close friends who had been at a party that night.
“ They would take turns buying each other food for each other just that’s just the type of friends they were. That’s one of the things that helped me get through this as well. I know that he went out with his best friend. I feel like he wasn’t alone in this.”
Ramiro Hernandez said his brother Chrystobal, also known as Chris, was a 10th-grader at Southlake High School.
The crash remains under investigation.