Florida
Florida mother Destiny Byassee killed when fake airbags ‘detonated like a grenade,’ lawsuit alleges
A young Florida mother was killed last year when her car’s counterfeit airbag “detonated like a grenade,” according to a lawsuit.
Destiny Byassee’s used 2020 Chevy Malibu passed through multiple conmen before its fake emergency airbags deployed in a June frontal collision, causing a blast that “shot metal and plastic shrapnel throughout” the car, her family alleges.
“Several fragments from the blast struck Ms. Byassee in the face, head, and neck, ultimately killing her,” stated the complaint, obtained by Law & Crime.
The 22-year-old “was a mother of two young children and had her entire life ahead of her,” attorney John Morgan, who is also representing the family, said in a news release.
According to the lawsuit, Byassee bought the doomed sedan from DriveTime, a national used car company, without being given a full history of the car.
The former Enterprise Rent-A-Car car was involved in a devastating September 2022 crash that caused damage that “was so significant that the vehicle should have been classified as a total loss, issued a salvage title, and removed from service,” the lawsuit alleges.
Rather than scrap the vehicle, Enterprise allegedly sold the car to DriveTime through Manheim Auctions, Inc., which bills itself as the largest wholesale automobile auction company in the world.
It was then repaired at Jumbo Automotive in Hollywood, Florida, the complaint continues, claiming that shop owner Haim Levy “purchased counterfeit and non-compliant airbag components” by a Chinese company to replace the Chevrolet factory airbag “and proceeded to install these components into the subject Chevy Malibu.”
Not only were the dangerous fake bags used, but Levy allegedly repaired the deployed seatbelt pretensioner — the part of a complete system that tightens the belt during a crash — incorrectly, but in a cunning way that made it appear to work properly.
Byassee “had no idea that the vehicle had been improperly and illegally repaired,” her family said.
Both the counterfeit airbag and faulty seatbelt pretensioner “were signaled to deploy” during the June 2023 collision, according to the lawsuit.
“However, because the subject Chevy Malibu’s front driver-side seatbelt pretensioner was inoperable, the pretensioner did not deploy as originally designed,” the lawsuit states. “Worse, because the subject Chevy Malibu’s front driver-side airbag system included counterfeit and non-compliant components, the airbag detonated like a grenade and shot metal and plastic shrapnel throughout the vehicle cabin.”
The filing pointedly said that photographs depicted the “horrifying event,” including one of the “shredded and blood-soaked front driver-side airbag.”
Cathy King, Byassee’s grandmother, filed the lawsuit on behalf of the 6- and 4-year-old children the young woman left behind, as well as her husband and mother.
Byassee “believed she was buying a safe and reliable vehicle, but our lawsuit alleges that several automotive companies worked to skirt the system by repairing what should’ve been a totaled vehicle, all just to make money,” Morgan said in the release.
“Because of that, Ms. Byassee lost her life, and her children will grow up without their mother.”
The lawsuit seeks a jury trial on 14 various counts against the various defendants – including strict liability, negligence and deceptive trade practices.
Neither Enterprise, Manheim, DriveTime nor Jumbo Automotive immediately answered The Post’s request for comment.
Florida
Florida’s political sphere reacts to Nicolas Maduro’s capture as former Venezuelan president awaits court appearance
Now that the United States has captured Nicolas Maduro and intends to prosecute him and members of his family, CBS News Miami’s Jim DeFede brings us the latest developments and the fallout following the Saturday morning strikes.
Guests: U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz/ (D) FL District 25
Lt. Gov. Jay Collins/(R) Florida
Ambassador Frank Mora/Former U.S. Ambassador to OAS
Raul Stolk/Expert on Latin America
Jon May/Represented Manuel Noriega
Florida
Venezuela airspace restrictions leave travelers stranded in South Florida
Florida
Florida State football: South Alabama DB Nehemiah Chandler commits, will transfer to FSU
Chandler’s bio from usajaguars.com:
At Georgia Tech: Saw action in one game during his freshman season … used the season as a redshirt year.
High School: Rated as a three-star prospect by Rivals, 247Sports and ESPN … First-team all-district honoree … Versatile athlete played cornerback, wide receiver and quarterback over the course of his prep career … Four-year letterwinner earned one letter apiece at four different high schools … Began high school at Westside H.S. in Jacksonville, Fla. as a freshman (2020), then moving to the Tallahassee area, where he attended Godby H.S. as a (2021) and Munroe H.S. (2022) as a junior before returning to Jacksonville to attend Wakulla H.S. as a senior (2023) … Helped lead Wakulla to an undefeated regular season and berth in the Florida 2S state playoffs as a senior in ‘23 … Coached at Wakulla by Barry Klees … Also played basketball … Honor roll student.
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