2-Month-Old Baby Dies Of Injuries In 9-Vehicle Pileup On I-75

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL — A 2-month-old baby is the second fatality of a massive pileup involving nine vehicles on Interstate 75 just north of Interstate 4 Monday.

The infant, Asher Gaspard, died Tuesday after being critically injured in the crash.

At 2:30 p.m. Monday, a dump truck driven by Daniel Thomas Ragan, 74, of Spring Hill was traveling south on Interstate 75 when he ran into heavy traffic and wasn't able to slow down in time. He collided with a tractor-trailer truck driven by Alonza Nelson, 35, of Tampa and then a Toyota Corolla driven by Fritzy Gaspard, 34, of Tampa before overturning on top of a Nissan van driven by David Ross Garcia of Inverness.

The overturned truck then continued forward, colliding with a Toyota SUV driven by Jonathan Velazquez, 37, of Land O' Lakes; a Jeep SUV driven by Arianna Nenci, 49, of Dade City; a Chevy pickup driven by Carlo Sproccati, 61, of Dade City; a Nissan Altima driven by Robert Arnold, 64, of Overland Park, Kansas; and a Ford F150 pickup driven by James Mathie II, 69, of Valrico.

The accident closed the southbound lanes of I-75 for six hours.

Garcia died at the scene. The baby was rushed to the hospital with critical injuries and died Tuesday.

Charges against Ragan are pending.