MELBOURNE — An 8-year-old boy was killed and four other people, including two young children, were injured early Saturday after oncoming traffic on US 192 in Melbourne, police said.
The fatal accident occurred around 2 a.m. Saturday on the freeway near Sweetwater Drive, Florida Highway Patrol investigators said. Police officers said a Kia Forte driven by an unnamed 31-year-old woman from Brunswick, Ga., was traveling eastbound on the westbound outer lane of the freeway for unknown reasons when he was driven by a 1999 Honda Accord 2008 collided.
The right front of the Kia crashed into the front of the Accord, which was being driven by a 23-year-old Melbourne man, FHP said. The Melbourne man suffered minor injuries in the accident, police officers said.
The Kia then went off the road and crashed into a nearby tree. An 8-year-old boy who was traveling in the Kia was killed while the Kia’s driver, along with a 6-year-old girl and a 1-year-old baby, were treated at the scene by Brevard Fire Rescue workers.
As is customary with pediatric patients, the two children were flown to the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and Women in Orlando. The woman was taken to Holmes Regional Medical Center for her unspecified injuries.
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Police did not name the boy or anyone else involved in the accident. FHP does not disclose such names under policy, citing a privacy amendment to the state constitution modeled after California’s Marsy’s Law.
No charges were brought. Investigators wanted to find out why the woman was on the wrong side of the street.
JD Gallop is a criminal justice and breaking news reporter for FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallop at 321-917-4641 or jgallop@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @JDGallop.
