Survivor of crash that killed mom sues driver

Woman killed in Sept. 2013 crash; 16-year-old daughter critically injured

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The man charged in a fatal 2013 traffic crash that killed a woman and injured her daughter while they attempted to cross San Jose Boulevard at Haley Road in Mandarin is being sued by the daughter who survived the crash.

Michael Fortunato pleaded no contest last year to careless driving, failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk, and driving with an expired license in the September 2013 crash that killed 57-year-old Esther Ohayon and critically injured her 16-year-old daughter, Orly Ohayon.

Fortunato was fined more than $1,100 and had his driver's license suspended for six months.

Fortunato told investigators he didn't see the Ohayons as they crossed the road to get to services at Etz Chaim Synagogue.

Orly and Ester Ohayon

This was the second time Fortunato has hit and killed a person with his vehicle and has not faced criminal charges.

"The charges issued are civil and not criminal based on the evidence collected, because there was no criminal intent or criminal action involved with this case," Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Dylan Bryan said.

Fortunato was never criminally charged in a case in 2009, when police said he hit and killed a 6-year-old boy in a separate crash. The FHP said because Fortunato was not drinking or on his cellphone, he wasn't driving while distracted. Therefore, authorities had no criminal recourse to charge him.

The lawsuit filed by Orly Ohayon's attorney says Fortunato had a degenerative eye condition called retinitis pigmentosa, which causes poor peripheral vision. The suit says that's why Fortunato didn't have a license. It alleges he didn't try to renew it, because he feared he would fail the eye exam. He went to DMV to renew it two weeks after the crash, and he did fail the eye test.

After the 2013 accident, the Florida Department of Transportation made several improvements to the traffic signal at the intersection.  They increased the pedestrian walk time from 44 to 52 seconds during the Sabbath to accommodate the large number of people walking to the synagogue. 

Engineers also installed sensors to automatically activate the walk signal without having to push the button since Orthodox Jews are not to operate any electrical equipment on the Sabbath.


About the Author:

Kent Justice co-anchors News4Jax's 5 p.m., 10 and 11 p.m. newscasts weeknights and reports on government and politics. He also hosts "This Week in Jacksonville," Channel 4's hot topics and politics public affairs show each Sunday morning at 9 a.m.