Trooper Mistake Led to Florida Crashes

A probe into the Interstate 75 accidents that killed five members of a Cobb church found no criminal violations.

A Florida Highway Patrol officer who reopened a smoke- and fog-covered portion of Interstate 75 in January did not have proper training and was not aware of procedures governing such an incident, according to an investigators' report issued Thursday.  A total of 11 people, including five members of a Cobb County church, were killed in a series of crashes on the interstate caused by the smoke and fog. But investigators from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement did not find any criminal violations. According to their report, Highway Patrol Lt. John Gourley decided to reopen the stretch of I-75 near Gainesville in the early hours of Jan. 29 despite protests from Highway Patrol Sgt. Bruce Simmons.  The highway had been closed because of a…

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Lidiane Carmo Released from Hospital

The Sprayberry freshman recovered in Florida from the critical injuries she suffered in the I-75 crash that killed her family.

Lidiane Carmo has left the hospital a month and a half after the horrific interstate pileup that killed her family. The 15-year-old freshman at Sprayberry High School was the last of 22 survivors of the Interstate 75 crashes near Gainesville, FL, Jan. 29 to leave Shands at the University of Florida hospital, the Gainesville Sun reported. She was still at the hospital Tuesday, 44 days after the accident, but was gone Thursday when the Sun checked again. Lidiane’s pastor, the Rev. Aaron Amazonas, had posted a message March 8 on Facebook that she was getting better and was just waiting to be released. He included a photo of a healthy-looking Lidiane posted by her maternal uncle, Fabio Souza. “We had some very good news about Lidiane,” …

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Friends Remember the Carmo Family

First United Methodist Church in Marietta was the venue for the visitation and funeral for three family members who died in a Jan. 29 Florida interstate crash.

Correction: Abi Lehman was the Sprayberry student who spoke in remembrance of Leticia Carmo. We apologize for the error. Hundreds of friends gathered at First United Methodist Church of Marietta on Monday afternoon to pay final respects to the Carmo family members who died last month in a Florida interstate pileup. Pastor Alda Celia of Brazil sang the Brazilian and American national anthems.  Celia and the Praise Team from Kennesaw's Victory North Church sang "Amazing Grace" and "Revelation." Among those who remembered the Carmo family and knew them through their faith were Ester Amazonas, Socorro Curtis and Pastor Jeff Hidden. Sprayberry High School student Abi Lehman is a friend of Leticia Carmo's. She and her mother spoke before the …

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Julia Harris

4:22 pm on Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Rev. Amazonas, Thank you so much for commenting. This story has touched me deeply. The tragedy suffered by the family and your church is tremendous. You are all in my prayers. There is comfort in knowing that the memories of those lost will live through Lidiane and church members.   more ›

Carmo Family Funeral Is Monday

While a Sprayberry High student recovers from a Florida car crash, services will be held for her parents and sister in Marietta.

The funeral for Kennesaw’s Carmo family will be held Monday at 4 p.m. at First United Methodist Church in Marietta. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the public service will follow a visitation starting at 1:30 p.m. at the church at 56 Whitlock Ave., a little more than three miles from the small, two-year-old Brazilian-immigrant church Jose Carmo Jr. served as pastor, Igreja Internacional da Restauracao (International Church of the Restoration), located in East Marietta. Carmo; his wife, Adriana; their first daughter, Leticia, 17; his brother Edson; and Edson’s girlfriend, Roselia DeSilva, died early Jan. 29 in a pileup on fog-shrouded Interstate 75 south of Gainesville, FL. The Carmos’ younger daughter, Lidiane, survived the …

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Chick-fil-A Carmo Fundraiser Raises $4,820

Chick-fil-A customers placed receipts in specially marked boxes on the counter or at the drive-through window. Cash donations were also accepted.

The Northeast Cobb community has embraced 15-year-old Lidiane Carmo who is still hospitalized in Florida following a recent Florida interstate tragedy that claimed the lives of her father, mother and sister Leticia, 17. In an all-day fundraiser Monday, the Sprayberry Chick-fil-A donated 10 percent back to the Bank of America fund set up to pay for Carmo's medical expenses and the burial of her family. "The total amount raised and being deposited at Bank of America is $4,820.75," Tracey Pitts, Chick-fil-A at Sprayberry marketing representative, told Northeast Cobb Patch. A recent bake sale to benefit Carmo, organized by Sprayberry High School's football coach, Jeff Hutson, and the Achievement Via Individual Determination class, raised $3,…

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Latin American Community Helps Lidiane Carmo

Friends, classmates and El Patron 105.3 Radio raised funds for Lidiane Carmo over the weekend.

Latin American community members recently gathered at Palateria Michoacana Ice Cream Shop in Marietta to raise funds for 15-year-old Lidiane Carmo of Kennesaw, a Sprayberry High School student who was injured in a Florida pileup that killed her parents and 17-year-old sister. Saturday's event was organized by friends and classmates of the Brazil native with the help of 105.3 El Patron, and was documented in a photo gallery and video posted by the popular Spanish radio station. Photos show community members donating money and buying grilled corn on the cob, fried snacks and other foods to support Lidiane. In the video, which is in Spanish, Sprayberry student and fundraiser organizer Soledad Fuentes says she learned about the crash that …

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Sprayberry Chick-fil-A Carmo Fundraiser Features Wild 105.7

DJ David J, Checka Cee and the 105.7 Wild Atlanta crew supported, and provided entertainment for, the Lidiane Carmo fundraiser Monday.

Sprayberry Raises $3,000 for Lidiane Carmo

The Thursday and Friday bake sale to benefit Lidiane Carmo was organized by Sprayberry's football coach, Jeff Hutson, and the Achievement Via Individual Determination class.

Sprayberry High School has been buzzing with activity since last week's signing day and fundraising efforts for Lidiane Carmo who was severely injured, and her family members killed, in a Jan. 29 Florida wreck. Baked goods for the Carmo fundraiser were selling like hot cakes. Demand was quickly depleting the supply. The school asked the community to please donate baked goods so that the $3,000 goal could be achieved. The need was so desperate that the Sprayberry football team donated part of the cake from its college signing party Wednesday morning. The school's efforts paid off. The Sprayberry football team posted on its Facebook page Saturday, "Coach Hutson and the Achievement Via Individual Determination (AVID) class at Sprayberry High …

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Sprayberry Chick-Fil-A Lidiane Carmo Fundraiser

The fundraiser is to benefit 15-year-old Lidiane Carmo who is still hospitalized in Florida following a Sunday morning multiple-vehicle pileup on Interstate 75 south of Gainesville that claimed the lives of her father, mother, and sister Leticia, 17.

The Northeast Cobb community has embraced the victims of last Sunday's Florida interstate tragedy despite a litany of immigration and financial issues that has grown around the Carmo family. A candlelight vigil was held Wednesday at the Sprayberry High School in honor of the three Carmo family members who perished, and the surviving daughter who remains in critical condition.  Sabrina Webster, a Sprayberry mother, has rallied the community to donate baked goods for a Friday fundraiser to benefit Lidiane Carmo who is permitted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to remain in the U.S. despite an expired visa. In an all-day fundraiser on Monday, Sprayberry Chick-Fil-A will donate 10 percent back to the Bank of America fund set up to pay …

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Carmo Vigil Draws Hundreds

Crash survivor Lidiane Carmo will not be deported, an ICE spokeswoman says.

Hundreds of Sprayberry High students gathered at a vigil for the Carmo family the same day a federal official announced that the family’s sole survivor won’t be deported. Sprayberry freshman Lidiane Carmo, 15, remains in Shands at the University of Florida hospital while recovering from the injuries she suffered in the multiple-vehicle pileup that killed her parents and sister Sunday. The Kennesaw resident is in fair condition, WSB-TV reported this morning. Among the 11 people killed in the chain-reaction crashes on Interstate 75 south of Gainesville, FL, Sunday were Lidiane’s father, Ingreja Internacional de Restauracao pastor Jose Carmo; mother, Adriana; sister, Sprayberry junior Leticia; uncle Edson Carmo; and Edson’s girlfriend. The …

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