Father seeks answers after fatal Seminole County crash kills daughter

Destiny Gonzalez’s father is asking who was with his 24-year-old daughter in the moments before she was struck and killed on State Road 46 in Geneva, leaving her family with a baby who survived and a long list of unanswered questions.

Florida Highway Patrol said Gonzalez was walking westbound in the westbound travel lane just after 3 a.m. April 14 near State Road 46 and Jungle Road when a 2008 Ford F-350 hit her from behind. The pickup driver stayed at the scene. Gonzalez died at the crash site.

The family says Gonzalez had been holding her infant daughter, Liana, in a car seat when the crash happened. The baby survived. Her father said he is now caring for Liana, who is 9 months old, and Gonzalez’s sister, and described the child’s survival as a miracle. Family members also said Gonzalez was the mother of two young girls, including Liana and a 1½-year-old daughter.

The father believes Gonzalez may have been visiting a friend in Geneva and then gotten into another vehicle before the collision. He is asking anyone who saw her, or who knows who she was with before the crash, to come forward. The crash has become more than a traffic investigation for the family. It is now a search for accountability around why Gonzalez ended up on a dark stretch of roadway in the first place, and whether other people were involved before she was hit.

The death also lands in a state where pedestrian crashes remain a serious problem. The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles says Florida recorded 3,184 traffic deaths in 2024. Its pedestrian safety data shows 10,013 pedestrian-related crashes and 765 pedestrian fatalities in 2022, a toll that underscores how dangerous nighttime walking can be on high-speed roads. State crash reports can take up to 10 days to become available, and Seminole County crash records are handled through the sheriff’s public records system. On SR 46, a corridor that locals know carries fast-moving traffic through Geneva, Gonzalez’s death has become another stark reminder of how quickly a roadside encounter can turn fatal.