\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThe State Attorney\u2019s Office in Orange County is not filing charges against the Orlando police officer involved in the crash that killed 92-year-old Milagros Ortiz in January.The original police crash report found their own officer was at fault for not yielding the right of way during the collision at the intersection of Hoffner Avenue and Semoran Boulevard.”What we hope the Ortiz family and this community know \u2014 above all else \u2014 is that Ms. Milagros Ortiz was seen. Her life mattered. And this review was conducted in a manner worthy of her,” State Attorney Monique Worrell\u2019s office said in a statement sent exclusively to WESH 2 Investigates on Friday. An Orlando police public information officer said in an email that the department supports the decision to close the case with no charges.\u201cWe want to note that this case was never referred to our Office for prosecution,\u201d the statement from Worrell\u2019s office said. \u201cWe proactively requested the investigation because we believe it is our responsibility \u2014 not merely our prerogative \u2014 to ensure that the questions of grieving families and a watchful community are answered, and that accountability is never left to institutional inertia.\u201dAfter a review of the evidence, including witness statements, surveillance-camera videos and vehicle-maintenance records, prosecutors determined the driving of Officer Andrew McKuhen did not rise to the level of recklessness that\u2019s required to charge him with vehicular homicide.The family of Ortiz retained high-profile civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump.”Oftentimes, when you have people investigating themselves, it seems to be a hint of impropriety,” Crump said in early February.Who was Milagros Ortiz?Ortiz was the matriarch of her family and her loved ones describe her as the life of the party. “I love you all and I think we should do this more often, get together, that’s what we’re family for,” she said in a video shared with WESH 2 Investigates.Daughter Evelyn Alicea said her mom was \u201ca strong 92, a vibrant 92.\u201dOrtiz’s daughters said a friend was driving their mom home from her weekly bingo game in the early morning hours of Sunday, Jan. 18.\u201cJust because you’re a police officer, that doesn’t allow you to just go and run a red light to do whatever it is that you’re doing,\u201d daughter Judy Santiago said.State Attorney\u2019s Office closes the case with no chargesWESH 2 Investigates obtained the case disposition memo that provides new details from the Orlando police traffic homicide investigation into the deadly crash, a few miles north of the Orlando airport. It reveals that the officer\u2019s attorney said “McKuhen had been attempting to conduct a traffic stop on a vehicle that had made an illegal U-turn on the west side of the intersection.”The State Attorney\u2019s Office on Friday morning denied a records request for surveillance video from the street cameras and a nearby 7-Eleven, saying in an email it is \u201cconfidential\/exempt\u201d pursuant to a state statute.”My suggestion, it kind of look like he got tired of waiting at the light,” witness Jose Rodriguez told WESH 2 Investigates.The memo includes a statement that Rodriguez provided investigators.”I believe the officer did not see the vehicle coming to him going toward the airport, because his view was blocked from the vehicles that stopped,” Rodriguez said.Prosecutors said McKuhen\u2019s speed was below 20 miles per hour until two seconds prior to the crash.His marked Ford Explorer reached 32 miles an hour when it hit the driver\u2019s side of the Jeep carrying Ortiz. The driver was injured, but she survived.Ortiz died two days later in the hospital.”I could have expected that maybe from a drunk driver,\u201d Alicea said in January, \u201cbut it never in a million years I would have thought it was a police officer that was gonna hit her.”According to the memo, McKuhen hit the service brake a half second prior to the crash and “there is no evidence that McKuhen intentionally turned off the emergency lights.”But the prosecutor\u2019s report includes multiple reported problems with the officer\u2019s vehicle.”The maintenance logs document a history of issues related to the lights and sirens on McKuhen’s vehicle. McKuhen’s vehicle had previously been in a crash,” said Assistant State Attorney Brian C. Hagner, who is the Traffic Homicide Unit chief.That crash, according to the memo, happened on March 9, 2020, prior to McKuhen joining the force in September 2024. Orlando police had no comment when asked by email about maintenance records for McKuhen\u2019s vehicle. WESH 2 Investigates informs Ortiz\u2019s family of prosecutor\u2019s decisionOrtiz\u2019s family learned Thursday about the findings in the April 27 SAO memo after receiving a call from WESH 2 Investigates. “The fact that a fatal crash occurred is not evidence of reckless driving. Florida caselaw is replete with examples of cases where the driving that led to a fatal collision was found not to be reckless,” Hagner wrote near the end of the memo. \u201cDue to the lack of evidence showing that Officer McKuhen\u2019s driving in this case was reckless, the State should decline to file the charge of Vehicular Homicide against Officer McKuhen.\u201dState Attorney Worrell\u2019s office is acknowledging a \u201ccritical failure\u201d in how the case was initially handled, saying \u201ca victim advocate was not immediately assigned.\u201d The SAO addressed that issue in the lengthy statement sent to WESH 2 Investigates:\u201cThat gap was caused, in part, by devastating reductions in federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) funding that have severely diminished the capacity of victim advocacy services across our office. These cuts are not abstract policy \u2014 they translate into families in crisis who do not receive the support they are owed. In this instance, a family in the depths of grief did not have an advocate beside them from the beginning, and that is unacceptable. We take responsibility for that failure. We are committed to ensuring it does not happen again. And we will continue to advocate forcefully for the restoration of VOCA funding, because every victim deserves support from the very first moment they need it.\u201cWe reached out to both the surviving victim and the family of Ms. Ortiz to ensure they knew of our review and to give them the opportunity to be heard. To date, we have only been able to make contact through legal counsel representing the surviving victim. We have not yet been able to reach Ms. Ortiz’s family directly \u2014 and that matters deeply to us. We will not stop trying. We urge them to contact this Office. They deserve to hear our findings from us, directly and personally \u2014 not through press releases or secondhand accounts.\u201dOrlando police said on Friday that the department\u2019s internal affairs investigation into whether McKuhen violated any department policies is \u201cstill active and not finished yet.\u201d\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tORANGE COUNTY, Fla. \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n