APOPKA, Fla. – A portion of Main Street in Apopka was closed Wednesday morning after a crash that left a woman dead, according to police.
The crash occurred around 6:26 a.m. in the intersection of Main Street and Highland Avenue, where a roadblock remained for several hours, according to the driver’s arrest affidavit.
Surveillance video from a nearby gas station reportedly showed that the woman was in the process of crossing Main Street from south to north when she was struck by a Ford Mustang, the affidavit states. At the time of the crash, she was standing in the center turn lane (from westbound Main Street to southbound Highland Avenue) and was waiting for traffic to let up, police said.
A witness who was driving in the innermost eastbound lane of Main Street told investigators that the Mustang passed him on his left — thus entering the center turn lane — before it struck the woman, according to the affidavit.
“She got hit right to my left. What the driver did, he was in the yellow median because the left turn lane started just after, so he went in the yellow lane to get ready to go in the turn lane and plowed into her,” said witness David Aronowitz.
The Mustang driver — identified as Jeremy Gonzalez, 19, of Apopka — was arrested to face a charge of negligent vehicular manslaughter, records show.
Gonzalez reportedly told police that he intended to turn left onto northbound Edgewood Drive and did not see the woman before the crash, according to the affidavit.
Gonzalez also said that he didn’t know why he used the center turn lane to travel east on Main Street and, further, told an officer “he did not know he could not do that,” the affidavit states.
The woman — identified as April Milligan — was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. No other injuries were reported.
“I was deep breathing, hyperventilating,” Aronowitz said. ”I was like, I have never seen anyone get killed before. First, she is standing there and then she is gone. Watching the cops trying to give her compressions, I’m bawling.”
At his first appearance in court Thursday, it was determined Gonzalez would be released on recognizance after a judge did not find probable cause. The state may charge at a later date, the judge said.
When News 6 asked for the surveillance video, APD said “Due to this being an open investigation, we cannot release any evidence to the public at this time.”