Deputy's daughter killed in I-95 crash caused by alligator

Cassi Taylor, a 20-year-old civilian employee of the Indian River County Sheriff's Office, was killed early Monday on Interstate 95 in Brevard County in a chain-reaction crash that began when a driver ahead of her struck an alligator in the road.

Taylor had joined the sheriff's office on July 20 as a civilian corrections assistant and was scheduled to be officially sworn in the same day she died, the agency said. She had worked there for a little more than a month, a new hire whose first formal step into the job never came.

The sheriff's office identified her as the daughter of Deputy Scott Burke, whom it described as known to many in the community through his presence at local events. Taylor's surname differs from Burke's, and the agency has not described the relationship further.

How the crash unfolded

A 2010 Mercedes-Benz E-350 driven by a 58-year-old man from Canada was traveling southbound in the center lane at about 11:52 p.m. Sunday when the driver saw an alligator in the roadway, according to a Florida Highway Patrol crash report. The driver could not avoid the animal, and the front left of the car struck it, leaving the vehicle disabled in the road.

Taylor was driving a 2004 Toyota Tacoma southbound behind the Mercedes when the collision ahead of her unfolded. She swerved in an attempt to avoid the damaged car, lost control and the pickup overturned, troopers said. She was ejected from the truck as it flipped and came to rest in the center lane of the highway.

A third vehicle, described in the report only as an unknown vehicle traveling southbound, then struck Taylor as she lay in the roadway and left the scene. She was pronounced dead at the location, near mile marker 214, as troopers worked to identify the driver who fled.

The Florida Highway Patrol said Taylor was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash. Troopers have not released a cause of death. The driver of the Mercedes was not injured and remained at the scene, according to the crash report. The Daily Beast reported the alligator that set off the sequence was also killed; the Florida Highway Patrol has not said so.

The search for a driver

The driver who struck Taylor and left the scene has not been located, and the investigation into the hit-and-run remains open, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Troopers said they are continuing to search for evidence that could help identify the vehicle and the person driving it.

Under Florida law, leaving the scene of a crash involving a death is a first-degree felony, punishable by up to 30 years in prison and carrying a mandatory minimum sentence of four years, though the statute allows a defendant to seek a departure from that minimum.

The Space Coast Rocket reported the case is filed under Florida Highway Patrol number FHHP26ON0405916, with Trooper Provencher investigating and Corporal Wenzel assigned as the homicide investigator.

FHP has asked anyone with information about the vehicle that fled to contact troopers at *347 or Central Florida Crimeline at 1-800-423-TIPS. Tips left with the Crimeline may be made anonymously, the agency said.

A job she never began

Taylor's swearing-in had been set for Monday, the day her death was reported. The Indian River County Sheriff's Office announced that she had died in a vehicle crash in Brevard County in a social media post on Tuesday, calling her one of its newest team members and asking for prayers for her family.

The agency asked the community to keep Taylor's family, friends and colleagues in their thoughts as they mourned her death. It described Burke, her father, as a figure many residents would recognize from community events around the county.

She is the daughter of Deputy Scott Burke, who many of you may know from community events. Please keep Scott and the entire family in your prayers.

Taylor had worked at the sheriff's office as a civilian corrections assistant for a little more than a month before she was killed, according to The Daily Beast.

A fundraiser hosted by Local Helping Hands Foundation, Inc. on behalf of Taylor's family identified her as the daughter of Dana (Scott) Burke and Travis (Kasey) Taylor. The page said Taylor had wished to be cremated, and that cremation costs alone ran about $2,500, part of a total the family said it was struggling to meet.

Where the family stands

The family wrote that it was seeking to cover cremation costs, a service, an urn and other expenses, including lost wages, in the days after her death. The page described Taylor as a young woman with a heart of gold who would be dearly missed.

As of Aug. 31, the fundraiser had raised $1,845 from 14 donors toward its goal, according to The Space Coast Rocket.

Family members identified Taylor, of Palm Bay, in the days after the crash, and the sheriff's office confirmed her identity Tuesday in the statement announcing her death. The two accounts together laid out who she was and the job she had been days from formally starting, a role she had held for only weeks.

What investigators described

Troopers described a crash that unfolded in a matter of seconds on the interstate. The Mercedes struck the alligator and was left disabled in the roadway. Taylor's pickup overturned as she tried to avoid the wreck, and she was thrown into the center lane, where a third vehicle hit her before driving off.

The impact with the alligator caused what troopers called catastrophic damage to the Mercedes and left it stopped in the travel lanes. That disabled car was the hazard Taylor was trying to avoid when she lost control of her pickup, investigators said.

An open case

The hit-and-run remained under investigation this week, with the driver who struck Taylor still unidentified. The Florida Highway Patrol has not said whether it has located any vehicle, and it has renewed its appeal for witnesses who may have been on that stretch of I-95 late Sunday.

The Mercedes driver, a 58-year-old Canadian man, was not hurt and stayed at the scene, according to the crash report, which did not name him.

The crash happened on I-95 southbound near mile marker 214, in Brevard County near Titusville, north of Taylor's home in Palm Bay.

Taylor's death was announced by the agency where she had just started work, the Indian River County Sheriff's Office, which lies to the south of the Brevard County crash site. Her father continued to serve there as a deputy.

The sheriff's office said Taylor died early Monday morning. The crash report placed the collision at about 11:52 p.m. Sunday, close to midnight.

The investigation into the driver who fled remained open as of this week, and the sheriff's office asked that Taylor's family, friends and colleagues be kept in mind as they grieve. The Florida Highway Patrol said its search for the vehicle and its driver was continuing.