ORLANDO, Fla. – The family of a 92-year-old woman killed in a crash with an Orlando Police Department patrol vehicle said it is planning to file a $92 million lawsuit — one million dollars for each year of her life.
Milagros “Millie” Ortiz died in January after a collision involving an OPD patrol vehicle.
Ortiz’s family announced Thursday it intends to file litigation against OPD, the company that manufactured the red and blue flashing lights on the patrol car, and the company responsible for maintaining OPD’s fleet of vehicles.
“We want justice for my mother,” said Judy Santiago, Ortiz’s daughter. “There has to be accountability.”
Video captured by a city traffic camera shows the moments leading up to the deadly crash at the intersection of South Semoran Boulevard and Hoffner Avenue on January 18.
While stopped at a red light, Orlando Police Officer Andrew McKuhen reportedly spotted another driver making an illegal U-turn.
As the officer began entering the intersection, the video shows he activated the patrol vehicle’s emergency lights, which appeared steady rather than flashing.
A witness does not recall hearing a siren.
Seconds later, the emergency lights turned off entirely and remained dark as the officer accelerated through the intersection and into the path of an SUV carrying Ortiz home from a bingo game.
Ortiz, who was sitting in the front passenger seat of her friend’s Jeep, later died at a hospital.
Earlier this year, the office of State Attorney Monique Worrell declined to file criminal charges against the officer.
In a memo, the state attorney’s traffic homicide unit chief cited a “lack of evidence showing that Officer Andrew McKuhen’s driving in this case was reckless.”
Investigators also found “no evidence that McKuhen intentionally turned off the emergency lights.”
However, the state attorney’s office noted the officer’s vehicle had a history of issues with the operation of its lights and sirens dating back years.
Maintenance records indicated the vehicle had previously been involved in a crash on March 9, 2020, during which emergency lights were removed and reinstalled during repairs.
A March 2023 work order noted that “only part of the strobes” were working, with records indicating repairs were made at that time.
A February 2025 work order flagged that “a couple buttons on the emergency control are not working”, notably the siren, though no repair was completed because the problem could not be replicated.
Another work order in September 2025 noted the siren box worked intermittently, requiring the operator to “switch them all the way to the right and it might not still work”. But no repairs were made after the box functioned properly during inspection.
Just weeks before the crash, a November 2025 work order reported the sirens were not working and that the siren box may need to be reprogrammed. The officer was advised to “take it to public safety”.
Attorney Benjamin Crump, who is representing the Ortiz family, indicated the damages they will be seeking in their lawsuit against the police department, the vehicle maintenance company and the light bar manufacturer is symbolic.
“We think $92 million, representing a million dollars for each year of her life, is equitable,” Crump said.
Santiago echoed that sentiment, saying the lawsuit will be about more than her mother.
“I don’t want her death to have gone in vain,” Santiago said while fighting back tears. “It has to be worth something so it prevents the next tragedy on another family member, so they don’t have to stand here like we are standing here today.”
Crump did not say when the lawsuit would formally be filed.
Orlando Police have declined to comment on the matter while the agency conducts an internal investigation.