Driver may face charges after fleeing Homestead cops, killing three teen passengers in wreck

Detectives on Tuesday were working to build a criminal case against the teenage driver of a car that plunged into a Homestead canal over the holiday weekend after speeding away from cops, killing three passengers — and leaving their relatives struggling to understand what led to the wreck.

The 16-year-old driver, who has not been identified by police, was the only survivor in the dark-colored sedan that jumped a curb, plowed through a guardrail and into the water early Saturday morning off East Palm Drive and Southeast 28th Avenue in Homestead.

The Homestead police on Tuesday declined to released the names of the three dead teens, whose ages ranged from 14 to 16. Relatives and the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office have identified them as Terrance Valdivia, 14, Jeremiah Calderon, 16, and his girlfriend, Rihanna Vargas, 14.

Calderon’s family has started a GoFundMe page to help with funeral costs. Jeremiah was a student at My Life My Power Prep, a private school in Homestead. One of four siblings, he loved to ride ATVs and dirt bikes, and wanted to join the U.S. Army after school, his mother said.

“Jeremiah was the spark in our family. He was vivacious, high spirited, and resilient,” Vanessa Rosales told the Herald on Tuesday night.

She also said the family wants answers from Homestead police.

“We’re curious about the whole situation. I have questions about what happened,” she said. “Are the police responsible in any way? I don’t know.”

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The Homestead police department said officers were not chasing the car, which belonged to the grandmother of the teen driver and was taken without her permission. Homestead Sgt. Fernando Morales, a spokesman, gave this account of what happened:

On Saturday morning around 3 a.m., the teen’s car cut off a Homestead police officer driving on patrol. “It was very blatant and on purpose,” Morales said.

The car sped off, too fast for the Homestead police officer, who gave up and stopped the pursuit, Morales said.

True Homestead, a community blog and Facebook page, posted an Instagram screenshot purported to be from the teen driver bragging about running from the cops.

About an hour later, about 4 a.m., Homestead Sgt. R. Khawly saw a car that matched the description stopped on Speedway Boulevard. According to police, he activated his lights, pulled up behind the car, and got out to walk up to the car.

But the car sped off. Khawly, police said, radioed what happened, got back into his patrol car and tried to catch up, Morales said.

On Palm Drive, the teens’ car “blacked out” — meaning it turned off its lights to try and avoid police — and may have lost control while trying to turn, hitting the curb and plunging into the canal. “It was really dark roads,” Morales said.

Morales said Khawly was blocks away and did not see or hear the crash. “It was not considered a chase,” Morales said.

At the Keys Gate Charter School, the officer saw a dark-colored sedan pulling out of the parking lot. Believing it was the car that had fled, he pulled it over and quickly realized it wasn’t the teens, Morales said.

But the people in the car said they had just heard a “loud bang” in the area by the canal. Officers went to investigate and found the submerged car — with the three dead teens inside.

As the car was pulled from the water, detectives found the driver injured in nearby woods. He was hospitalized, police said.

Terrance’s relatives later gathered to mourn the teen at the site of the crash. They told WPLG-ABC 10 that Terrance had been out with friends and was supposed to have been home by midnight.

“I told him plenty of times to stop hanging around with that person,” his sister said of one of his friends. “And he didn’t listen.”

Jeremiah’s mother also said she believed he was home asleep when the crash happened.

The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the teens died of accidental blunt force trauma, with “submersion in water” as a contributing condition. The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office said it is also monitoring the investigation.

Morales said Homestead Police’s traffic homicide unit is poring over the car to try and recreate what happened.

“This is going to take a while,” he said. “The car was totally mangled and submerged.”