The three victims of a fatal semi-truck crash on the Florida Turnpike earlier this month were Haitian immigrants traveling back to Indiana, according to the Miami Herald.
Authorities identified the victims as 30-year-old Herby Dufresne of Florida City, 37-year-old Faniola Joseph of Pompano Beach, and 54-year-old Rodrigue Dor of Miami. The crash occurred on August 12 when their Chrysler minivan, driven by Dufresne, collided with a tractor-trailer. Joseph and Dor were pronounced dead at the scene, while Dufresne later died at a local hospital.
Investigators said the semi-truck, operated by 28-year-old Harjinder Singh, attempted an illegal U-turn in a section of the highway marked for “official use only.” The minivan slammed into the trailer and became lodged underneath. Singh and his passenger were uninjured. Arrest affidavits state that the passenger had been watching videos on his phone and could not explain why Singh attempted the U-turn. Singh refused to answer questions without an attorney.
Singh, who has been living in the U.S. illegally since crossing the southern border in 2018, was arrested in California on August 15 on three counts of vehicular homicide and three counts of manslaughter. Florida Lt. Gov. Jay Collins oversaw his transfer to Florida, where a judge ordered him held without bond.
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said Singh was able to obtain commercial driver’s licenses in Washington in 2023 and California in 2024 despite failing basic English and traffic sign recognition tests. “If you can’t read street signs, how are you going to drive large commercial vehicles, 18-wheelers, tractor trailers in a safe manner?” Uthmeier said.
Victims’ backgrounds
Friends said Dufresne had moved from South Florida to Indiana in search of work. He had arrived in Miami from Port-au-Prince on Dec. 9, 2023, under the Biden administration’s humanitarian parole program for nationals of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. Known as CHNV, the initiative granted two-year permits to more than 200,000 Haitians who secured financial sponsors.
Although the program was ended earlier this year by President Donald Trump, Dufresne remained in the U.S. legally through Haiti’s Temporary Protected Status designation.
Joseph had previously lived in Pompano Beach, while Dor resided in Miami.
State response
In the wake of the deadly crash, Florida officials announced new measures to increase inspections of commercial vehicles and target undocumented drivers. Uthmeier said Monday that all of the state’s agricultural inspection stations will now double as federal immigration checkpoints.
“There’s no telling how many illegal aliens are in this country driving large commercial vehicles and putting American families in a safety risk every single day,” Uthmeier said during a press conference in Live Oak, north of Gainesville.
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services currently operates 23 inspection stations, which were deputized under the federal 287(g) program in 2025 to assist with immigration enforcement. Officials said a new station will open along Highway 231 near the Florida-Alabama border, with additional pullover lanes planned in north Florida. Advanced X-ray technology will also be introduced to scan trucks as they enter stations.
Uthmeier also warned that driver’s licenses from states such as California, Washington, or New Jersey — like the ones Singh obtained — “are no good here.”
