Driver in Southwest Miami-Dade Crash That Killed 3 Released From Hospital

The driver of an SUV that police say struck and killed two teens and the good Samaritan who was trying to help them after an accident has been released from the hospital, officials said Monday.

Christopher Masferrer, 30, was released from Kendall Regional Hospital late Sunday, hours after the southwest Miami-Dade crash that killed 17-year-olds Carolina Agreda and Anapaula Saldana and 45-year-old Eduardo Hernandez.

Another driver who was involved, 68-year-old Josefa Quinones, remained hospitalized Monday in fair condition, Kendall Regional officials said.

Miami-Dade Police said Agreda and Saldana had been involved in an accident with Quinones in the area of Southwest 56th Street and Southwest 157th Avenue around 3 a.m. Sunday.

Hernandez had just stepped out of his car to help the teens when all three were struck by a car driven by Masferrer, police said. All three were pronounced dead at the scene.

Hernandez's father was in the car with him at the time and witnessed the crash. Friends said the man died the way he lived.

"It's a person that was willing to help anybody at all times, " family friend Robert Pelier said. "This is how it happened, by helping somebody and somebody ran over him."

Police said speed and alcohol may be a factor in the crash, and charges are pending against Masferrer. The man has a record of unsafe driving, with a total of seven traffic infractions. At his home Monday, an unidentified man who answered the door said he had no comment.

Friends of Agreda and Saldana gathered Sunday night at their school, Miami Sunset Senior High, for a candlelight vigil.

On Monday, several students at Miami High dressed in black in memory of the girls.

"When I walked into class there was an empty desk and I just couldn't believe that she's dead," said friend Rosalexa Aragon. "I thought she was absent, that she was running late. It just sucks because I saw her on Friday. We were talking in class. We were laughing. She had her whole life ahead of her and this is such a tragedy."

Family members said the loss was life-changing.

"It destroyed a whole life," Saldana's aunt Gisela Leysner said. "Not only this family's, but another girl's family and the good Samaritan that got out to help. Come on. Three families are affected in this situation, changing all our lives."

Contact Us