A Lauderdale Lakes man with a history of careless driving is facing a much more serious charge following a collision that killed a pedestrian on Thanksgiving Day in Fort Lauderdale.
Jeffrey Genner Dorval, 26, is charged with vehicular homicide for speeding, crashing into another car, and causing it to veer off and strike someone standing near an intersection back on Nov. 25, according to court records.
At Dorval’s first court appearance Wednesday afternoon, defense attorney Jim Lewis told the judge the other driver was at fault.
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"The other driver actually ran a stop sign," Lewis said. "They collided and the other car actually went over and hit a pedestrian."
But the other driver, Kadesha Clark, denied it during the court hearing.
“I did not run the stop sign," she said. "It was Thanksgiving Day. I was heading to my grandparents’ house with my husband and two children. I am not a reckless driver. I would not run a stop sign [or] a red light."
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The arrest report made no mention of a car running a stop sign. It did state that Dorval was driving a BMW 54 mph in a 30 mph zone on Northwest 11th Street when he struck a 2019 Hyundai Elantra heading north on 5th Avenue.
It was not Dorval’s first traffic incident.
In 2015, he was convicted of fleeing police at high speed, resisting arrest, reckless driving, crashing into a bus bench, and driving without a license, said prosecutor Ross Weiner.
“On Feb. 11 of this year, three months after the fatal crash, he ran a stop sign at a high rate of speed [and] caused another crash that actually occurred blocks from where the fatal crash occurred,” Weiner added.
Dorval was arrested Tuesday and is being held in the Broward County Jail on bonds totaling $60,000, records show.
If the bond is paid and he is released from jail to await trial, Dorval must wear a GPS ankle monitor and he is not allowed to drive, the judge said.
