JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (TMX) – The Florida Highway Patrol said a New York man was arrested and extradited to the Sunshine State earlier this month for allegedly causing a fatal car crash last year by slowing down to take a photo of a “Welcome to Florida” sign.
Marvin Redondo-Funes, 25, was extradited to Florida and booked into the Nassau County Jail on Nov. 2 on a slew of charges, including four counts of aggravated manslaughter of a child and driving with a license suspended or revoked causing great bodily injury, Florida Highway Patrol announced last week.
Redondo-Funes was driving from New York to Florida with his girlfriend, his niece and three nephews when they crossed the Georgia–Florida state line in the early hours of July 1, 2023.
As they entered Florida at around 4 a.m., Redondo-Funes allegedly slowed to just one or two miles per hour on Interstate 95 in order to take a photo of a “Welcome to Florida” sign, troopers said.
A car behind Redondo-Funes didn’t see that he was slowing down and struck the car at full speed.
All four children were in a backseat designed to seat three, and only one of them was wearing a seat belt.
Three of the children were pronounced dead at the scene, and one was transported to a hospital. The fourth child died two days later.
Redondo-Funes, his girlfriend and the driver of the other vehicle were not seriously injured.
Redondo-Funes is being held on a $270,016 bond and was scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 6.
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