Two deputies are under investigation to determine if they were chasing a 19-year-old driver in the moments before a violent crash near Fort Lauderdale on Sunday that killed two women.
Gavin Dorvil, 19, of Lauderdale Lakes, was arrested Tuesday night at Broward Health Medical Center. Dorvil was speeding in a 2023 Tesla Model 3 west on Northwest Sixth Street, approaching the intersection of Northwest 27th Avenue shortly before 4 p.m. Sunday, according to the Broward Sheriff’s Office. At the same time, a 2023 Dodge Durango was heading south on Northwest 27th Avenue, approaching the same intersection west of Fort Lauderdale.
Dorvil crashed into the driver’s side of the Dodge, forcing both cars southwest, the Sheriff’s Office said. The Dodge then crashed into a 2024 Chevrolet Trax that was stopped on Northwest Sixth Street at the intersection, flipping the Chevrolet upside down.
The force continued to move the Tesla and Dodge southwest, where the cars crashed through a fence around the Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens Central cemetery, the Sheriff’s Office said. Everyone in the three cars, a total of five people, was taken to Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale.
Lisa Jackson, the driver of the Dodge, and her passenger Geraldine Francis were pronounced dead at the hospital, the Sheriff’s Office said. A minor girl who was also riding in the Dodge was in critical condition.
Jackson, Francis and the minor girl whose name was not released were a family from Bermuda, Bermuda’s daily newspaper the Royal Gazette reported. Francis was Jackson’s mother, the newspaper reported. Jackson’s daughter is the minor girl who survived.
Alison Hill, the chief executive operator of Argus Group, said in a statement to the Bermuda newspaper that Jackson was a former employee of the insurance and financial services company. They had traveled to Florida as Jackson’s daughter, Kumani, was going to start attending university in the state, Hill’s statement to the newspaper said.
The Sheriff’s Office did not provide information on Dorvil’s condition after the crash or the driver of the Chevrolet, Jasmyne Thomas.
Dorvil faces two counts of vehicular homicide and one count of reckless driving causing serious bodily injury, the Sheriff’s Office said in a news release Wednesday. Other charges may be added. He had not been booked into the jail as of Wednesday evening.
Carey Codd, a Sheriff’s Office spokesperson, said in an email Tuesday to the South Florida Sun Sentinel that deputies found a gun at the crash scene that they believe came from the Tesla.
Traffic Homicide Unit detectives asked that Internal Affairs representatives “determine if any BSO units were pursuing the Tesla prior to the crash,” Codd said. Internal Affairs representatives came to the scene and began reviewing, he said.
The two deputies are now on “restricted administrative assignment” while Internal Affairs investigates, Codd said in an email. Codd said he could not answer questions about how the deputies were involved prior to the crash. The Sheriff’s Office has not released the deputies’ identities.
A witness shared a video on Facebook shortly after the crash that showed the mangled Dodge and Tesla stopped at the edge of the cemetery as many bystanders watched people attempt to rescue the people inside the Dodge.
Multiple men could be seen reaching into the Dodge, and two people were removed and laid down on the cemetery lawn. Two deputies were seen pulling a young man from the passenger’s side of the destroyed Tesla.
The violent crash triggered an automated call for help from the iPhone of one of the people injured, according to a 911 call released Wednesday to the Sun Sentinel.
“The owner of this iPhone was in a severe car crash and is not responding to their phone,” the robocall said to 911, as sirens wailed and muffled voices could be heard in the background.
Sun Sentinel staff writer Shira Moolten contributed to this report.
