It happened in the blink of an eye.<\/p>\n
Around 6:12 a.m. Monday on Lucerne Park Road, illuminated only by the headlights of passing cars, a Polk County school bus was carrying 39 people to Winter Haven High School when a white Chevy Malibu driving in the opposite direction veered over the yellow lines and broadsided the bus.<\/p>\n
The sedan tore deep into the metal and ripped off a tire, jerking the bus sideways as it overturned into a small ditch on the other side of the road, with screaming high schoolers bracing for impact. The bus also slammed head-on into an oncoming Jeep, setting it on fire.<\/p>\n
The crash killed two people \u2014 identified for the first time Tuesday as Winter Haven High School sophomore Adinaluz Prieto Oyola, 16, and the Jeep\u2019s driver, 26-year-old Deshawn Smith of Haines City \u2014 and injured dozens of others.<\/p>\n
The chaos was captured on the bus\u2019 dashboard and internal surveillance cameras and publicly released at a press conference by Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.<\/p>\n
The other victims were treated at several area hospitals and are expected to recover.<\/p>\n
Judd, flanked by Superintendent Fred Heid and a slew of other officials, also confirmed the identity of the driver who caused the crash, a 23-year-old nurse who drove the Malibu on her way to work at the time who is now cooperating with investigators.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere won\u2019t be any criminal charges at this point of the investigation, unless something turns up that we\u2019re unaware of now,\u201d Judd said, which he added could take months to complete. The Orlando Sentinel is not publishing the driver\u2019s name as no arrest was made.<\/p>\n
According to Judd, the driver does not remember what led to the crash and was driving under the speed limit when it took place. The investigation\u2019s early stages further concluded she was not using her phone at the time.<\/p>\n
Judd urged people to donate to the families either through online fundraisers<\/a> or through Polk Sheriff\u2019s Charities<\/a>. The website includes an option in its drop-menu for donations to go toward \u201cAssistance for Winter Haven Bus Crash Fatality Victims.\u201d<\/p>\n The funds will be split and directed to the victims\u2019 families.<\/p>\n Superintendent Fred Heid choked back tears as he described Adinaluz, the teen victim, as being beloved by her teachers and classmates. She is survived, among other relatives, by her brother, a recent Winter Haven High School graduate.<\/p>\n Her family was given her belongings yesterday, including her cellphone, which was \u201cfull of messages from her friends, loved ones, those checking on her initially and those sending goodbye messages after the fact,\u201d Heid said.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a father, I can\u2019t even imagine the pain that that family is going through,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n