Florida deputy’s daughter, 20, killed in freak car crash caused by alligator

The daughter of a Florida deputy was killed in a freak late-night car crash caused by a wandering alligator – hours before her swearing-in as a law enforcement official.

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Cassi Taylor, 20, lost control of her Toyota Tacoma pickup while desperately trying to avoid plowing into a Mercedes that had hit an alligator on I-95 in Titusville, Fla, just before midnight Sunday, WFLA reported.

She was thrown from her truck as it overturned — then struck by a hit-and-run driver while she lay in the road, officials said. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Taylor, the daughter of Indian River County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Scott Burke, was killed a little over a month after she joined the sheriff’s office as a civilian corrections assistant. 

The Jasper native’s formal swearing-in ceremony was slated for Monday, hours after her deadly crash.

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“We are saddened to share the news of the death of one of our newest team members,” the sheriff’s office said on Tuesday.

Tributes have poured in, with Taylor’s friends describing her in an online fundraiser as an “amazing young lady with a heart of pure gold who will dearly be missed.”

Taylor wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, investigators said while confirming that the crash was caused by an alligator, which was also killed when hit in the tragedy.

The Mercedes driver — a 58-year-old Canadian — wasn’t injured and remained at the scene, Florida Highway Patrol said, while continuing to search for the driver who fled the scene.

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