Cassi Taylor, 20, was killed in a late-night highway crash just hours before she was to be sworn in as a law enforcement official.
The daughter of Indian River County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Scott Burke died on I-95 in Titusville, Florida, shortly before midnight Sunday when her Toyota Tacoma overturned during a chain-reaction collision triggered by an alligator in the roadway. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Taylor had joined the sheriff’s office as a civilian corrections assistant just over a month earlier. Her formal swearing-in ceremony had been scheduled for Monday, the day after the crash.
The chain of events began when a Mercedes struck the alligator on the interstate. Taylor, attempting to avoid hitting that vehicle, lost control of her pickup truck. She was thrown from the overturned Tacoma and then struck by a second vehicle whose driver fled the scene, officials said.
“We are saddened to share the news of the death of one of our newest team members,” the Indian River County Sheriff’s Office said on Tuesday.
The alligator was also killed in the initial impact. Investigators confirmed that Taylor was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.
The Mercedes driver, a 58-year-old Canadian, was uninjured and remained at the scene, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Authorities continued searching for the hit-and-run driver.
Friends of the Jasper native launched an online fundraiser in her memory, describing her there as “an amazing young lady with a heart of pure gold who will dearly be missed.”
Tributes have poured in for the young woman who had been following her father into law enforcement.