FHP says he killed man in Florida Keys car crash. He turned himself in this week
.jpg "A Key Largo man turned himself in to police Thursday, May 4, 2023, to face charges in a November 2022 car crash on U.S. 1 in the Middle Florida Keys.")
A Key Largo man turned himself in to police Thursday to face charges in a November 2022 fatal car crash, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
William Ruiz, Jr, 20, was booked into Monroe County jail shortly before 8 a.m. and was released on $84,000 bond around 11 a.m., according to jail records. He faces felony negligent vehicular manslaughter and misdemeanor driving under the influence of alcohol charges.
Ruiz could not be reached for comment, and it was not immediately known who his legal counsel is.
According to an FHP press release, Ruiz was speeding in his 2005 Chrysler Crossfire north on U.S. 1 at mile marker 61 approaching Duck Key Road at 4:45 p.m., Nov. 12, 2022. At the same time, William Diaz-Gomez, 58, was driving home from work and heading west on Duck Key Road and making a left onto U.S. 1 to go south, the FHP said.
Troopers say because Ruiz was speeding and drunk, he failed to slow down and his car hit the driver’s side of Diaz-Gomez’s 2011 Nissan Altima.
Medics took Diaz-Gomez to nearby Fishermen’s Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Ruiz was also seriously injured and taken to Jackson South Medical Center in Miami-Dade County. By the time he arrived, he still had a blood alcohol content of 0.08%, which is the threshold for being legally drunk, the FHP report states.
Both men were wearing their seat belts, according to the FHP.
