ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — When Alex Denholtz woke up Wednesday morning, his mother was gone. She’d just celebrated her 63rd birthday.
Her name was Carolina Toradse-Denholtz. She’d been killed in a crash at US-1 and Pine Island Road, near Nocatee. He found out from alerts he got to his phone saying his mom had been in a crash.
“She was the last person who deserved to die, and especially like this,” said Denhotlz.
Denholtz came all the way from New York to Nocatee to be with his family. He recently found out St. Johns County had already had a traffic light planned at the intersection where his mom lost her life. He believes it could have prevented his mother’s death.
“When is this going to happen?” Denholtz asked, “How many people have to die and suffer, how many more families have to be torn apart?”
Florida Highway Patrol says the crash happened Wednesday at around 8:00 AM. The crash report says Denholtz was trying to turn onto US-1 from Pine Island Road when an SUV hit her from the left, causing her death. FHP says the driver of the SUV and the driver of the truck Denholtz’s car hit after the crash weren’t seriously hurt.
Action News Jax found out St. Johns County got a $2.7 million grant from the Florida Department of Transportation to build a traffic light at the intersection. The county tells Action News Jax it’s already being built, but there’s no set date it’s expected to be finished.
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Both Denholtz’s son and her best friend, Ellen Megan, believe the project could have prevented this crash if it had been done by now.
“How many people have to die or get injured or get hurt before they do something like this,” Megan said.
Action News Jax reached out to Florida Highway Patrol and the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office to request the number of crashes, both deadly and non-deadly, that have happened at the intersection over the last three years. We’re still waiting to hear back.
Denholtz is glad a light is being built, but says it should have been done sooner.
“I keep thinking about my mother and how scared she might have been,” Denholtz said, “you never think it’s going to happen to you. I know people say that, but you don’t.”
The Denholtz family tells Action News Jax a funeral is being planned for next Tuesday at 11:00 AM. It’s set to be held at the San Sebastian Catholic Church in St. Augustine.
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