WINTER HAVEN, FLA. — A 10th-grade Winter Haven High School student killed in a school bus crash on Monday was remembered as being loved by teachers and friends.
Adinaluz Prieto Oyola, 16, was killed when the bus overturned on Lucerne Park Road, Superintendent Fred Heid said during a press confernce on Tuesday.
“An amazing young lady in every account. Teachers loved her. Friends loved her,” Heid said.
Her first day of cheerleading practice was supposed to be Monday, Heid said.
Heid said her “cellphone is full of messages from her friends, loved ones, those checking on her initially, and those sending messages, goodbye messages after the fact.”
On Oct. 5, at about 6:15 a.m., the bus was carrying 37 high school students to Winter Haven High School on Lucerne Park Road. A 23-year-old nursing student driving a white Chevy Malibu was traveling in the opposite direction when she veered across the center line and crashed into the school bus.
She is cooperating with investigators.
“She provided her cellphone for us. She interviewed with us. She gave us a voluntary blood draw, and she said, ‘I don't remember what happened,’” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said.
The school bus then crashed into a silver Jeep driven by DeShawn Smith, 26, of Haines City. Smith also was killed.
While Judd said it was early in the investigation, no charges have been filed.
“I can tell you that in 14 years of being a superintendent and having dealt with countless tragedies over the years, that was the most difficult conversation I've ever had to have with a family,” Heid said.
Bradenton community responds after 20-year-old volleyball star dies from disease that affects 2 in a million
The 20-year-old IMG Academy volleyball star and Under Armour All-American died Sept. 16 after a three-month battle with the rare blood disorder — even though doctors had found her a 100% bone marrow match, her mother, Tanya Mack tells Tampa Bay 28 reporter Haley Zarcone.
