SWEETWATER, FLA. (WSVN) - A man has turned himself in to Florida Highway Patrol troopers several months after, investigators said, he crashed a car he was test driving into a flower stand, killing a toddler.
Hanskabell Amargos could be seen covering his face as he tried to walk into FHP’s Troop E headquarters in Sweetwater undetected on Thursday. He could be heard ringing the doorbell rapidly to try to get the attention of troopers.
“This was a very, very, very sad story, and we understood the impact it had on the community,” FHP Lt. Alex Camacho said. “We knew that we had to do a, number one, a transparent, but a very thorough, investigation to ensure a conviction on this. This story hit home to a lot of people.”
Amargos is accused of killing a toddler after he hit him with a dark-colored Dodge Charger he was test driving on Valentine’s Day. On that day, 3-year-old Anthony de Leon and his parents were selling flowers when the car drove through their tent.
The investigation took a little more than six months before troopers were ready to charge Amargos with vehicular homicide. Troopers said he has been cooperating throughout their investigation.
Troopers said Amargos was working at a dealership near Dixie Highway and 300th Street when he left the dealership to test drive a car and lost control of it, pinning the boy underneath.
“It’s a high-performance car,” Camacho said. “It’s a Hellcat model Charger. It comes with a lot of power, so he over-accelerated a little too rapidly, causing him to lose control, causing him to lose traction, which is what caused him to subsequently drive off of the roadway right into where this family was standing.”
Amargos declined to answer 7News’ questions about that day’s events.
He remains behind bars at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in West Miami-Dade. His bond has not been set.
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