A Winter Haven High School 10th Grader Was Killed on What Was Supposed to Be Her First Day of Cheerleading Practice When Her Bus Rolled Over With 37 Students Aboard

In a matter of seconds on the morning of Monday, Oct. 5, a school bus carrying 37 high school students to Winter Haven High School in Florida was hit, pushed into oncoming traffic and flipped onto its roof. Adinaluz Prieto Oyola, a 16-year-old 10th grader, was killed. That afternoon was supposed to be her first day of cheerleading practice.

A 26-year-old man driving to work was also killed. Nearly three weeks later, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office is still investigating what caused the first car to cross into the bus’s path.

How the crash on Lucerne Park Road unfolded

The bus was heading east on Lucerne Park Road, also known as State Road 544, a little after 6 a.m. According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, a white Chevrolet Malibu traveling west crossed the double yellow line and struck the rear side of the bus, WFTV reported. The impact tore a tire off the bus and sent it into the westbound lane, where it collided head-on with a silver Jeep. The Jeep caught fire, and the bus rolled onto its roof and came to rest in a ditch, CBS News Miami reported.

Sheriff Grady Judd said the crash happened “in the blink of an eye” and that the bus driver had no chance to regain control because the bus struck the Jeep almost immediately. He described it as possibly the worst bus tragedy in decades.

The Jeep’s driver, Deshawn Smith, 26, of Haines City, died at the scene. He was on his way to work. A fourth vehicle then struck the Malibu, according to Spectrum News 13.

Aboard the bus were 37 students, the driver and the driver’s 9-year-old daughter. The bus driver, Jessica Lynn Dye, 34, was not speeding, Judd said. After the crash, she freed herself and began helping students and her daughter. More than 100 emergency workers responded from the Winter Haven fire and police departments, Haines City police, Polk County Fire Rescue and Polk County Public Schools.

Thirty-five people were taken to four area hospitals: AdventHealth Heart of Florida, Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center, Winter Haven Hospital and Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children. By the next day, most had been treated and released. Three remained hospitalized and were expected to fully recover.

A 10th grader remembered by her school

Polk County Superintendent Frederick Heid described Adinaluz as “an amazing young lady in every account,” adding, “Teachers loved her, friends loved her.” He confirmed that Monday was to be her first cheerleading practice, according to Valley News Live. Heid said telling her family was the most difficult conversation he had ever had with a family.

He also praised the students and bystanders who acted in the minutes after the crash, saying the students “put others before their own safety” and that the district was truly grateful.

Two days after the crash, Winter Haven Police Department community service officers Jesus Perez and Gabriel Burgos left flowers outside Winter Haven High School in her memory, Fox 35 Orlando reported. Perez said he felt moved to bring them for her and her family.

Students who were on the bus are still working through what happened. Wander Cabrera, a Winter Haven High senior, needed stitches for injuries to his face and hand and told Bay News 9 that he felt traumatized and did not want to ride a bus again. He also said he was grateful that almost everyone made it out. Three crisis counselors from Tallahassee were made available to students and families.

The investigation, and what parents should know about bus safety

The sheriff’s office is handling the case as a traffic homicide investigation. The 23-year-old Malibu driver, a nursing student from Haines City who was on her way to work, has been cooperating, and no criminal charges had been filed as of the latest reports. Judd said that could change and that civil action may be likely. He also said a review of her phone showed it was in use at 6:02 a.m. and not again until she called 911 after the crash. Investigators have not said why the car crossed the center line.

It was the second Polk County school bus crash in about a month. On Sept. 3, another district bus crashed in Lakeland with no students aboard, and one person suffered injuries that were not life-threatening, CBS News Miami reported.

Deaths aboard school buses are rare. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration counts school buses among the safest vehicles on the road. From 2015 to 2024, 119 occupants of school transportation vehicles died nationwide, 49 of them drivers and 70 passengers. School-transportation-related crash deaths overall fell 14%, from 128 in 2023 to 110 in 2024. Children face more risk outside the bus, while boarding or leaving it, than they do riding inside.

Large school buses do not rely on seat belts the way cars do. Instead, they use a design called compartmentalization: closely spaced seats with energy-absorbing seat backs. Smaller buses with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or less must have lap or lap-and-shoulder belts at every seat. NHTSA’s crashworthiness research found that lap belts on large buses offer little, if any, benefit in severe frontal crashes, while lap-and-shoulder belts can help only when worn correctly.

NHTSA’s everyday advice for families is simple: arrive at the stop at least five minutes early, stand at least 10 feet from the curb, never walk behind a bus, and wait for the driver’s signal before getting on or off.

For Winter Haven High, the loss is still fresh. A cheer practice that should have marked a new start for Adinaluz Prieto Oyola instead became the day her school learned she was gone.

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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.

Image: Benoît Prieur – CC0/Wikimedia Commons