TAMPA -- A Snapchat video shows the moments just before a driver lost control of his vehicle and slammed nearly head-on with a van in a fiery fatal crash that killed five, including two children.
Florida Highway Patrol reported that speed was a likely factor that sent Pablo Cortes III''s Volkswagen Golf across the median of E. MLK Jr. Boulevard and into a van driven by Marianella Murillo. Murillo and two children, John and Lisa Bernal were killed when the van burst into flames.
The video, taken from within Cortes' vehicle by passenger Jolie Bartolome, has the car's speed added as text through a Snapchat filter. The first frames show Cortes driving at 82 miles per hour. Another snap has Cortes with a top speed of 115 miles per hour.
Bartolome is heard in the video laughing at the speed at which Cortes is driving. She also pans left to show Cortes slamming on his gearshift. These images are their final moments before the crash that also took both of their lives.
Murillo's family members called for an end to speeding in a report on 10News Thursday. A GoFundMe has been set up to support the Bernal Portoterro family.
