A South Florida family is calling for justice and a full investigation into the circumstances they say led to a young mother's death following a multi-car crash last year in southwest Miami-Dade.
Annie Becerra, 23, was a passenger in her boyfriend's car on Nov. 30, 2018 when he ran through a red light and crashed into another vehicle in Kendall. Police say Freddy Mieryteran left the scene and left Becerra inside the car. When he eventually returned, he did not tell responding officers that Becerra was still inside and allegedly told them he had already dropped his girlfriend off at home.
But Becerra was wedged inside the car "with her brain swelling" for over an hour, attorneys allege.
John Lukacs, the Bacerra family's attorney, said officers responded to the scene at 10:29 p.m. and didn't dispatch Miami-Dade Fire Rescue paramedics until 11:43 p.m.
"The fact that the (Miami-Dade) police, FHP (Florida Highway Patrol) and fire rescue were not able to identify she was in the vehicle until close to midnight -- an hour and 15 minutes -- cost her her life," Lukacs said.
Becerra didn't get to the trauma center at Kendall Regional until after midnight -- her family says the hospital is just down the scene from the scene of the crash.
"What were police doing? What was FHP doing on the scene of this accident for an hour and 15 minutes?" Lukacs said.
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According to police reports, Mieryteran was intoxicated and had drugs in his system that night. At one point after the crash, he had gotten into the backseat of his car and started eating pizza.
Lukacs alleges there is "no dispute" that Mieryteran was responsible for the crash. He also alleges his drugged and intoxicated state was evident to officials.
"This is an egregious case of negligence," Lukacs said. "The policies and procedures clearly were not followed. Police failed to save this girl's life."
Mieryteran remains in jail awaiting trial and is facing charges of DUI manslaughter, leaving the scene of a deadly crash and more, according to inmate records.
Mieryteran is also the father of Becerra's daughter, who is now 2 years old.
"She (Becerra) loved him and unfortunately she just loved the wrong person, because he clearly didn't care for her as much as he wanted to say, and he played a lot of mind games with her," said Ashley Oester, Becerra's friend. "He's done so much damage to her that I don't think it bothers him at all."
The agencies -- Miami-Dade Police Department, Florida Highway Patrol, and possibly Miami-Dade Fire Rescue -- accused of negligence in the lawsuit would not provide comment on the case because it's a pending legal matter.
