
Survivor and friend FIU student killed in MacArthur Causeway crash speaks out: "We want justice"
Eighteen-year-old Daniel Khan and a fellow student, who he was with, and their attorney spoke exclusively with CBS News Miami. Khan said he realizes that he, too, could have lost his life and he was left with a broken left forearm.
Khan said he and his fellow student, 19-year-old Mudasir Ali, were standing outside Rios Flores's disabled Jeep Wrangler when it was struck by a car that police said was going about 100 miles per hour in a 40-mph zone and that driver has been charged with DUI manslaughter.
It happened just west of Miami Beach and just before 12:30 a.m. on Feb. 21 after they had left the South Beach Wine and Food Festival.
"I am in a littler pain," Khan said. "I can't use my hand properly that much. I just remember the car going at a high rate of speed and other than that I did not see anything and I realized after the accident with my forearm was broken and I could not stand on my feet because of the injury."
"The car came at such a high speed and when I opened my eyes, I saw there on the road and I was depressed because of what happened," he continued. "She was my friend and I lost her. I hope the State Attorney will take this case to the fullest and give us justice."
"I only saw the car for three seconds and the car that was coming was going at such a high speed. I am so much stressed by this right now that this is affecting my studies. She was a very good friend of ours and I can't imagine how this happened. I am unable to process all of this," Ali told CBS News Miami. "We want justice."
The students are being represented by attorney Jonathan Friedland of Coral Gables, who told CBS News Miami the accident is being investigated.
"We have a 19-year-old international student who lost her life and that never should have occurred," he said. "My priority for them and my instructions for them is that we do a full investigation into this accident along with the State Attorney's office and make sure that the truth comes out and that people accountable for the accident are held accountable."
Friedland also represents the family of Rios Flores, who are from El Salvador.
According to a police report, Rios Flores's Jeep Wrangler had broken down and a police officer moved it away from traffic and onto the shoulder of the westbound lanes of the McArthur Causeway.
The report said Nicholas Devin Robinson was driving a silver Polestar 2 after celebrating his birthday on Miami Beach when his car struck the Jeep Wrangler.
According to the report, Robinson had slurred speech and "reeked of alcohol" after he hit a median and slammed into the Jeep, which flipped onto the eastbound lanes and Rios Flores was ejected. She was transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital but did not survive.
Robinson has been charged with DUI manslaughter as well as vehicular homicide in a reckless manner, reckless driving causing bodily injury, and DUI with serious bodily injury.
Robinson is being held on a $200,000 bond and will be on house arrest if he can post that bond. His attorney, Evan Hoffman, has filed a written plea of not guilty.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Miami Herald
2 days ago
- Miami Herald
Palm Beach eye doctor arrested for shooting ex-wife dead outside condo: deputies
Cynthia Sciarrone was two days shy of her 55th birthday when deputies found her dead on a Palm Beach County sidewalk in the predawn hours of July 15. She sustained a gunshot to her head, just 75 feet from the home she once shared with her ex-husband, a Martin County eye doctor who law enforcement officials are saying is the alleged killer, according to the suspect's arrest warrant. Around 3:30 p.m., Sciarrone was discovered after officers responded to a 'man down' call from Palm Beach Fire Rescue near the 4700 block of Lucerne Lakes Boulevard in Lake Worth Beach. A Spirit Airlines flight attendant, she was still in uniform and lay feet away from her suitcase when discovered, the report reads. No evidence of a firearm was found at the scene. Dashboard camera footage recovered later from Sciarrone's car, a grey Subaru, shows that she was shot hours earlier, around 11:50 p.m. Officials noted the shooter, who was just outside of the camera's view, was a man donning a baseball cap. Detectives were quick to single out a suspect — neighbors and an initial background check revealed that she was recently divorced from ophthalmologist Richard Seith as of May 5. The 53-year-old doctor, who owns Treasure Coast Eye Specialist in Stuart, owed her $285,000 and had to cede the Lake Worth Beach condominium to Sciarrone as part of the settlement, his arrest warrant detailed. Per one witness in the report, Seith's distinctive orange Jeep Wrangler — which sported the words 'Jack O' Lantern' — was regularly spotted staking out the Lucerne Lakes community and was seen as recently as July 13, two days before Sciarrone's death. Another, who said she briefly dated Seith in 2014 and befriended Sciarrone later, described their marriage as an 'escalating pattern of emotional and psychologically abusive behavior which Cynthia confided about.' Detectives began keeping tabs on Seith after a July 15 anonymous tip said he 'was stalking the victim and believed to have fired gun shots at places the victim would stay,' reads the report. Search warrants placed the following day turned up mounting evidence. Per his arrest warrant, Seith's cellular records matched surveillance footage of his Jeep traveling from Martin County to Lucerne Lakes the day Sciarrone was killed. His phone also showed that he searched Spirit Airlines flight departure information hours earlier and purchased a tracking device subscription that he canceled three hours after she was shot. A search of his Jeep Wrangler and eye clinic uncovered guns and gun paraphernalia in both. Seith was booked July 18 into Palm Beach County's Main Detention Center, where he remains and is behind held without bond. Stalking, abuse and a divorce While Palm Beach County officers have yet to release a motive, grim details on Seith and Sciarrone's six-year marriage could point to one. The eye doctor allegedly demanded she 'swing' with other sexual partners against her wishes and refused to pay for 'medically necessary dental care' if she didn't comply. In 2023, when she trained as a flight attendant in Houston to seek financial independence, Seith confessed his mind would go to a 'dark place' when thinking of what she did while away and admitted he considered killing his ex-wife during his first divorce, according to the warrant. Seith's dark musings and physically abusive tendencies led her to stay at a friend's Stuart home that the ophthalmologist was known to drive by frequently. According to the warrant, he sent repeated texts to Sciarrone and her friend laden with threats like 'Great knowing you' and demands to share her whereabouts. Sciarrone originally filed for divorce in January 2024 and moved to the Lake Worth Beach condo that she resided in until her death after her ex-husband kicked her out of their shared home and financially cut her off. Seith faces a charge of first-degree murder in connection with Sciarrone's death.


CBS News
3 days ago
- CBS News
2 killed in 2 separate crashes in western Wisconsin within minutes of each other
Authorities in western Wisconsin are investigating two separate deadly crashes that happened Saturday within minutes of each other. The Dunn County Sheriff's Office says the first crash happened at approximately 9:25 p.m. on 960th Street, south of 1010th Street in Spring Brook. Upon arrival, deputies found a 1961 Keep in the ditch that had struck a tree and caught on fire. Bystanders were able to put out the fire, authorities say, and only a tire had been damaged by the flames. The Jeep sustained significant damage and the driver, a 36-year-old from Durand, had been trapped inside the vehicle, according to the sheriff's office. First responders determined he was already dead by the time they arrived. Authorities say a preliminary investigation shows the Jeep had been southbound on 960th Street when it appears to have had a mechanical failure, causing the driver to lose control. The vehicle entered the ditch on the northbound lane of the road, partially rolled and struck a tree. Two minutes later, the Dunn County Sheriff's Office says deputies responded to a head-on crash on state Highway 79 north of 790th Avenue in Sherman. Deputies arrived to find a 2015 Chevy Silverado in the southbound ditch and a 2006 Pontiac G6 in the northbound ditch. The driver of the Pontiac, a 36-year-old woman from Boyceville, had been entrapped in the vehicle and died, authorities say. The lone occupant of the pick-up truck was transported by helicopter to the hospital. His condition is unknown. Investigators believe the Pontiac had been traveling northbound on Highway 79 when it crossed the center line and hit the Chevy head-on. The two crashes occurred about 25 miles apart from each other. The identities of the deceased will be released after the families are notified.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Man hospitalized for life-threatening injuries after collision in Whitby
A 39-year-old man suffered life-threatening injuries after a serious collision in Whitby Saturday evening that also injured five other people, Durham police say. Alcohol is "believed to a factor" in the collision that happened near Taunton Road West and Cochrane Street just after 11 p.m., police say in a news release. A white Jeep Wrangler was heading eastbound on Taunton Road West when it collided with a Black Honda SUV that was turning southbound on Cochrane Street, the release says. Five people in the Jeep were injured in the collision, including a 39-year-old passenger who was rushed to a Toronto-area trauma centre where he remains with serious, life-threatening injuries. The other four people were taken to a local hospital with minor injuries, police say. The driver of the Honda was taken to hospital with minor injuries. The collision is still under investigation. The roadway was closed for several hours while police collected evidence but has since reopened.