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Troopers: Wrong Way Crash Kills Coral Springs College Student

FT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – A Coral Springs woman died early Sunday morning in a head on collision on the Sawgrass Expressway.

Troopers say 21-year-old Marisa Catronio was a passenger in a car that was hit by a wrong-way driver.

Kayla Mendoza, 20, was heading east in her Hyundai Sonata in the westbound lanes of the expressway when she collided with a Toyota Camry driven by Kaitlyn Ferrante just west of University Drive around 1:45 a.m., according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Catronio, who was sitting in the Camry's front passenger seat, was killed on impact, according to her father, Gary Catronio.  He said Marisa and Kaitlyn were longtime friends and Kaitlyn was driving Marisa's car.

"I'll never get to hold my daughter again," Catronio sobbed.  He described his daughter as outgoing with lots of friends and a big smile.  Her brother Jesse Catronio, 19, told CBS4's Maggie Newland his sister wanted to be a nurse. "We love her and we just want her back," he said.

Now Catronio's family wants to do something to stop wrong way drivers. "I don't want other families to go through what we're going through and the pain that we're feeling," said Gary Catronio.

Marisa's uncle Ron Catronio suggested a physical barrier for wrong-way drivers, "whether it be a tire spike or something to prevent a car from entering the wrong way."  He added, "We're going to reach out to people we know in the community to see if there's something that can be done....We're going to be Marisa's voice."

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