Family Mourning Loss Of Child Killed At Homestead Roadside Flower Stand Files Lawuits
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A grieving family returned to the scene where their 3-year-old child was struck and killed at a gift stand on Valentine's day.
The family operated the tent-covered roadside stand on Dixie Highway in Homestead, near the Spitzer Auto Group dealership.
Anthony DeLeon Rojo died after he was struck and then pinned under a Dodge Charger Hellcat reportedly driven by the dealerships General Manager, 42-year-old Hanksabell Amargos.
People ran to try and lift the car off the boy but he did not survive.
Amargos was arrested when he turned himself in to police.
Attorneys for the Rojo family said he should have never been behind the wheel of the powerful car. They said the car had been dropped off for Chrysler to pick up and no one should have driven it.
"These past few months have been a nightmare for us. It is not the same anymore without my son. The only thing that we wish every day is to have him back, but we don't," said the boy's mother Judy Rojo.
"The car that killed Anthony was a Dodge Charger, but specifically a Hellcat, a supercharged vehicle with a powerful engine. that morning, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles bought that car back as a lemon. While a responsible vehicle owner would have made sure that the keys never ended up in the wrong person's hands, they didn't. They simply left those keys with Spitzer. Had Fiat Chrysler Automobiles held onto to those keys, Anthony would still be alive," said attorney Adam Finkel.
The family has filed a lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler Automobiles which is ongoing.
In a second lawsuit, the Spitzer Auto Group reached a settlement with the family for $5.5 million.
Chrysler put out a statement saying in part, that police determined "...the accident was caused by a driver flooring the accelerator resulting in a loss of control while departing the Spitzer Autoworld dealership." And that he "took the vehicle without permission..."
The family said there's no amount of money that can ease their pain. For them, the lawsuits are aimed at bringing about change.
"These two lawsuits, the only thing I want them to understand is to be more careful. That for every action there are consequences. That's my message. I want every dealership or anyone who owns a car to be careful," said Rojo.
Amargos remains on house arrest, his trial is set for January 11.
