Police: Elementary school student drowns in South Daytona canal crash
An 8-year-old student from South Daytona Elementary School drowned Wednesday night when the vehicle he was traveling in flipped over into a watery canal, police said.
The victm was identified as Jordinho Stenneth, said South Daytona police Lt. Bryan Craig on Thursday.
The crash also injured the boy's sister, Jordanae Lewin, 10, and his mother, Sashane Brown-Stenneth, 31, Craig said.
The accident occurred at 7:35 p.m. at the intersection of Reed Canal Road and Sauls Street.
On way to see grandma
Brown-Stenneth and her children were going to see her mother, Craig said.
Like a bomb: 'Like a bomb': Father recounts horror of car running over boy in ocean at Florida beach that allows driving
Car in retention pond death: Boy is second to die in Daytona I-95 retention pond accident
The South Daytona family was rescued from the submerged vehicle and were rushed to Halifax Health Medical Center where Jordinho died, Craig said.
Jordanae was transferred by helicopter from Halifax Health Medical Center to UF Shand's Hospital in Jacksonville. She was listed in critical condition on Thursday, the lieutenant said.
According to Craig, three police officers and four firefighters arrived at the scene of the crash to find the vehicle 75% submerged in about 3 to 4 feet of water.
"The officers and firefighters immediately took their gear off and jumped into that nasty water," Craig said. "All seven of them lifted up that vehicle, uprighted it, and rescued the family."
On Thursday the mother was listed in stable condition at Halifax Health Medical Center but she remains under close observation because medical staff believe she may have "ingested a lot of the nasty canal water," Craig said.
The woman was able to tell police what happened and evidence at the scene corroborated her account of the accident, Craig said,
"She was traveling west on Reed Canal Road when the right tire of the car struck a raised curb," Craig said. "The impact forced the car to the left into a barrier and the aluminum guardrail and she went over the edge."
Police are working with school officials to have grief counselors at South Daytona Elementary School to help students deal with the loss of their schoolmate, Craig said.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Child killed in South Daytona crash when car overturns into canal
