Woman who crashed into Mandarin pond dies

23-year-old's grieving family now planning a funeral

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The 23-year-old woman who crashed into a Mandarin retention pond before dawn Wednesday morning died the next day, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

Police said Kyndall Harrell lost control of her car and crashed into the pond just off Greenland Road about 3 a.m. She lived in a neighborhood off Greenland, about 2 miles from the crash.

It took 15 minutes to pull her out of the pond. Harrell was first taken to Baptist South, then transferred UF Health Jacksonville, where she died.

Police say the road wasn't icy, although it was wet.

There is a curve near where the car crashed, and while Harrell's family was too upset Friday to give an interview. They did tell News4Jax they wish something would be done about the curve where the accident happened.

Harrell was on her way home from work at the Cheesecake Factory at the St. Johns Town Center, where she has worked since 2015. Her coworkers were planning a private memorial at the restaurant next week for her family and close friends.

The family is to meet with a funeral director this weekend to plan services.

Harrell was an organ donor, and both of her kidneys were able to be used for other patients 

Morgan Traylor, who lives in the neighborhood by the retention pond, said he's been begging the city to do something about that curve for years.

"The road conditions were horrible and it definitely saddens my heart that something happened," Traylor said. "Sometimes it takes fatalities for somebody to do something about it, but it shouldn't."

Speed could also have been a factor. The speed limit on Greenland Road is 35 mph. 

"You know, if you're going 45, 50 (mph), you don't realize it until you've gotten past the curve that you just screwed up,"  Traylor said.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation.