A Florida teenager is facing adult murder charges after a high-speed crash killed a local couple who were out celebrating a birthday.
Estiben Garcia Luis, 17, Ocals, has been charged with two counts of felony murder following the May 8 collision that killed Charles Duncan and Lynn Duncan. According to Ocala police, Garcia Luis had just committed a robbery at the Ocala SportsPlex athletic fields before fleeing the scene with another person in a Ford Mustang.
Investigators say that the Mustang was speeding when it ran a stop sign at the intersection of SW 38th Street and SW 67th Avenue Road. The vehicle slammed directly into the Duncans’ Ford Explorer.
Emergency responders rushed the Duncans to a local hospital, where they both later died from their injuries. Because the fatal crash occurred during the commission of a felony, detectives were able to charge the teenager with murder under Florida law. He is being charged as an adult.
The couple had been out celebrating Charles Duncan’s 77th birthday when the crash occurred. Their daughter, Rebecca Duncan-Taylor, spoke to WOFL about the sudden loss. She recalled singing “Happy Birthday” to her father over the phone earlier that day, unaware of the tragedy that would follow hours later.
“It’s just been life-changing,” Duncan-Taylor said in her interview with the station. “My dad was a huge part, and so was my mom, of my kids’ lives, my grandkids’ lives.”
She expressed the deep grief and frustration her family has been dealing with since learning the circumstances of the crash.
“It was completely senseless,” she said. “And then to know the background behind all of it, it makes me sad and I’m angry. It’s a lot of emotions.”
Police arrested Garcia Luis last week. He is currently being held at the Marion County Jail without bond, and his next court date is scheduled for July 21.
READ: Text-Message Rage Ends In 38-Year Sentence For Illinois Man Who Kicked Wife To Death
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