A young woman who survived a massacre at a gay Florida nightclub has been killed in a highway car crash.
Orlando television station WFTV reported Monday that 20-year-old Jahqui Sevilla was driving on an Orlando-area highway early Sunday when she lost control of her car for an unknown reason. The car jumped the highway median and hit an SUV traveling in the opposite lanes head-on.
The Florida Highway Patrol says Soraya Matias-Roth, 53, of Lakeland, Florida, who was in the SUV, also was killed and three others in the SUV were hospitalized with injuries not considered life-threatening.
The highway patrol said in an accident report that the crash is still under investigation.
Never Miss a Beat
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights.
Sevilla played for the Orlando Anarchy Women’s Football team, which posted news of the death and its condolences on Facebook.
“When a person we love leaves us, we never lose them — they become more of a part of us,” the team said on its Facebook page. “Jahqui Sevilla will always be in our hearts and a part of the Orlando Anarchy Family.”
Sevilla survived last year’s Pulse nightclub massacre that left 49 people dead — the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Gunman Omar Mateen, who had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group, was killed in a shootout with police officers after a three-hour standoff.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
