High-Speed Crash in East Gainesville Kills 2

By Orlando Personal Injury Attorney on May 4, 2017

A high-speed crash in East Gainesville on Tuesday morning has left two individuals dead and a small community bewildered. According to the news report linked to the incident, the accident involved the 20-year-old Kristian Barker and the 23-year-old Matthew Nakamura. Barker was behind the wheel of a BMW convertible and Nakamura was in the passenger side of the same car. The two were apparently out for a late night/early morning drive when they lost control of their vehicle and crashed into a roundabout located at Northeast 8th Avenue and 9th Street in East Gainesville.

It is not clear just what the two men were doing at 12:30 in the morning, but however the night began, it ended with them driving at upwards of 70 mph down a residential street. At this speed, when driving down narrow roads flanked by homes and trees, the surrounding world becomes a blur, and it is likely that by the time Barker had noticed that they were about to crash they had already done so.

Residents who live along the street reported hearing a stunningly loud engine sound followed by something like an explosion. When they looked out their windows, they saw car parts littering their yards and the road. One resident, Megan Black, reportedly found two of the BMW’s wheels on her front porch.

Although there are not believed to be any witnesses to the crash itself, the evidence suggests that the two were headed down North East 8th Avenue and then tried to navigate the roundabout at incredibly high speeds, a move which resulted in the car being launched through the air and crashing into a tree. According to some of those who tentatively emerged from their homes after the crash shook the neighborhood, one of the men involved was lying in the middle of the street, still alive. It is not currently known whether or not this individual survived long enough for the emergency services to reach him, however it has been declared that both Barker and Nakamura died in the violent accident. Whether or not both deaths happened at the scene or later, in a hospital, has yet to be released.

James O. Cunningham

Since 1977, personal injury lawyer James Cunningham has provided effective legal advocacy to people who are injured through the negligent actions of another person or entity throughout the Central Florida area. He fights to obtain recoveries for his clients’ physical and emotional pain and suffering and pursues his clients’ personal injury cases with a commitment to excellence and impeccable preparation.