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Woman Killed In Freak Church Lot Accident

DEERFIELD BEACH (CBSMiami) – A woman who was rushed to the hospital after she was struck by a car in a Deerfield Beach church parking lot has died.

The Broward Sheriff's Office said they received a call about 9:50 a.m. that someone had been struck and was trapped beneath a car at St. Ambrose Church located at 380 South Federal Highway.

According to witnesses, after the morning service Mary Sczepanski, 88, got into her 2007 Buick Century, which was backed-in to a disabled parking space on the northeast corner of the parking lot.

Sczepanski accidentally placed the car in reverse, hit the gas and struck a curb stop. Apparently startled, the sheriff's office said she accelerated over the curb stop and onto the sidewalk where she hit fellow church goer 66-year old Luciana Porto.

Porto was dragged a short distance before Sczepanski came to a stop.

Broward Sheriff's firefighters and rescue personnel were able to free Porto who was rushed to North Broward Medical Center where she died.

The sheriff's office said charges, if any, will be pending completion of the traffic homicide investigation.

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