TAMPA, Fla. — Taylor Koulouris, the Plant High School student who was riding on the back of a motorcycle that crashed Friday in South Tampa, has died from her injuries. She was 15.
Koulouris passed away Monday afternoon, Kenny Hubbell, the Director of Contemporary Worship and Chaplain to Youth and Families at Palma Ceia Presbyterian Church confirmed to 10 Tampa Bay.
The motorcycle driver, 17-year-old Ben Francis who also attended the school, was killed in the crash at the intersection of Lois Avenue and Bay to Bay Boulevard.
Classmates who had attended a vigil late Sunday to pray for the teens called Koulouris the kindest person they knew. She was someone who was always there for others, classmate Adam Enajibi said.
Best friend Elizabeth McCree said Koulouris could put a smile on anyone’s face.
“She brings me so much laughter and so much light just through her own laughter,” McCree said.
A close friend to Francis said he was funny and loved by everyone he met.
"Ben, to me, was like my brother," Taylor Sass said. "He was so impactful in my life. You look at him and you knew, you’re happy."
Tampa Police Department investigators say the driver of a Kia Sorento was heading north Friday afternoon across Bay to Bay Boulevard from the stop sign on Lois Avenue. The driver reportedly did not see the motorcycle coming up at a high rate of speed.
Francis hit the side of the SUV, and he died at the scene of the crash. Koulouris was taken to Tampa General Hospital for treatment before she died from her injuries.
Police say the SUV driver was taken to the hospital for serious injuries and is expected to survive.