2 Dead in Winter Haven School Bus Crash on Lucerne Park Road

A 10th-grade student and the driver of a Jeep died Monday morning in a multi-vehicle crash involving a Winter Haven school bus. The collision occurred at 6:15 a.m. on Lucerne Park Road (State Road 544), near Highway 27.

Sheriff Grady Judd said a westbound Chevrolet Malibu crossed the center line and struck the rear of the eastbound school bus. The impact propelled the bus into a head-on collision with an oncoming Jeep. A Kia Forte then collided with the rear of the Malibu; its driver sustained minor injuries.

The student killed was Adinaluz Guadalupe Prieto Oyola, a Winter Haven High School student. The Jeep driver was identified as Deshaun Smith, 26, of Haines City. The Malibu driver, a nursing student en route to work, is cooperating and faces no charges, Judd stated.

The bus carried 39 people: 37 students, the driver and her 9-year-old daughter. The bus driver freed herself and helped students evacuate. Thirty-five individuals were transported to area hospitals, with three remaining hospitalized but expected to recover.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.