SOUTH MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - Newly released video shows the moments a Florida Highway Patrol trooper fatally struck a teen riding a bike in Southwest Miami-Dade.
A surveillance camera from a nearby restaurant captured Friday night’s crash along Killian Parkway and Southwest 108th Avenue.
According to investigators, 17-year-old Angel Lopez was riding his bicycle across the street when FHP Trooper Aliek Sierra, who was heading westbound on Killian Parkway, stuck and killed him.
After the accident, FHP said, the trooper’s vehicle stopped, turned on his lights and then reversed after hitting Lopez.
The victim’s friends told 7News they were all in the JROTC program together at Miami Killian High School. They also said that Monday was filled with tears, and they spent the day in counseling.
They told 7News that they will remember him for how happy and kind Lopez was.
“He was always hype person, he was always smiling. There was never a moment that he didn’t smile,” said a friend, Danyelle Castillo, as she became emotional. “He’s always smiling, and then you not seeing him is like, ‘Where is he?'”
“You could feel something was missing, but you could tell his presence was there at the same time,” said his friend Imani Lewis.
Monday was a hard day for some students who returned to class without their friend.
“The day had brought us together ’cause it made us realize we gotta love each other now instead of doing it later, ’cause nothing’s promised,” said student Daija Metayer.
Lopez’s family and their attorneys are expected to speak at a press conference Tuesday afternoon in Fort Lauderdale.
In the meantime, the teen’s friends are organizing a memorial for him at Ron Ehmann Park on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.