Valentina Tomashosky, 17, was driving in Hernando County Sunday and collided with a power line brought down by a fallen tree during heavy weather, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Investigators said the teenager’s car caught fire on the driver’s side, so she tried to escape from the passenger side. That’s when she walked on the active line.
“You could see the driver’s side was engulfed,” neighbor Maria Patchon told CNN subsidiary WFTS. “Even when the police arrived, they could not get out of the vehicle because the force was still alive. So it was devastating to watch. ‘
Tomashosky was a senior at Central High School in Brooksville, about 50 miles north of Tampa. According to the Hernando School District, she was a cadet lieutenant in the Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps program.
“Valentina is admired for her dedication to the unit, but she is most loved for her joyful spirit and her ever-present smile,” said NJROTC commander Christian Cruz. “Her loss is felt deeply and she will be missed.”
Tomashosky planned to go to Pasco-Hernando State College in the fall to study forensic studies.