TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – The Florida Highway Patrol has confirmed 2-month-old Asher Gaspard has died from injuries she suffered in a crash involving a dump truck and eight other vehicles.
The crash happened in the southbound lanes of Interstate 75, just north of Interstate 4 near the Fowler Avenue exit around 2:30 p.m. Monday afternoon.
Troopers said traffic was slowing or stopped when a dump truck hit a commercial truck and a Toyota Corolla and then overturned onto a van. Then it continued forward and hit five other vehicles.
The driver of the van, David Garcia, died at the scene.
James Mathie and others attempted to save the man following the crash.
“I tried to get a couple of guys to help him, eventually, I moved my truck about 15, 20 feet away and we couldn’t do anything and then the cops showed up,” James Mathie II said.
Mathie became emotional when he thought about what he’d seen on the highway.
“He was gone, no doubt about it when I saw it,” said Mathie.
The 74-year-old driver of the dump truck told a reporter at his door on Tuesday he could not talk about the crash because of legal issues.
The rest of the passengers suffered minor injuries. Only one was treated and transported away from the scene.
The southbound lanes of the interstate were closed for several hours.
Charges are pending, according to the report.
