DAVIE, Fla. – A teenage girl who was thrown from a flipped golf cart in Davie on Sunday has died.
Ashely Pereira, 17, was in a golf cart with friends heading east on Dykes Road over an I-75 overpass when the vehicle flipped and she suffered a serious brain injury, officials said.
Pereira was airlifted to Memorial Regional Hospital with a head injury sustained in the accident. On Wednesday, Pereira succumbed to those injuries.
"There are no words to describe the pain and shock her family is feeling right now. Heartbroken and devastated only seem to scratch the surface. Please pray for Ashely's family and friends. We will all miss her for the rest of our lives," wrote her uncle Rudy Castano on a GoFundMe page created for the family.
Davie police officers indicated that there were no other vehicles involved in the accident.
"It's just a heartbreaking thing to know that (her family) will be in anguish that may never end," one resident said. "Almost everybody I know parent or grandparent or both, and are saying, 'Wow" this could be my family member,'" a resident said.
Residents in the sprawling communities of Davie and Southwest Ranches say that kids driving golf carts is a common occurrence. Residents and law enforcement have expressed concern as other accidents have happened.
One resident told Local 10 reporter Andrew Perez that he knew of another victim who needed a metal plate put in their head after the golf cart they were in flipped.
"We've seen kids on these things where they pack them six, seven, eight in a cart," another resident said.
The family has set up a GoFundMe page to assist in the final arrangements for the teenager.
The cause of the accident is still under investigation, officials said.