Bus crash victims memorialized in vigils

A candlelight vigil was held Friday evening, May 17, for the victims of the Tuesday, May 14, fatal bus crash carrying farmworkers at an elaborate roadside memorial erected at the site on west State Road 40.

The roadside memorial included eight large wooden crosses marked with the names of the deceased and draped with Mexican flags. It was set up on property just west of Southwest 148th Court. At least 50 feet of the roadside was dotted with flowers and religious type candies. Large, brightly painted sign panels served as a backdrop and handwritten messages were encouraged from those paying their respects and supporting the victims’ families.

“My deepest condolences for your losses. I wish you peace, strength and much love,” one such message read.

Florencio Temoxtle, 28, said through a bystander who translated from Spanish to English, that his brother, Oscar Temoxtle, was killed in the crash.

The name Oscar Temoxtle and the age of 31 were hand painted on one of the crosses at the roadside memorial.

Florencio Temoxtle, who traveled here from Ohio, said his bother left a wife, a 6-month-old child and a 5-year-old child in his hometown of Vera Cruz, Mexico. He indicated he was appreciative of the show of support at the vigil.

Nearby residents who attended to pay their respects included Giselle Pineda and her mother, Angela Gomez, and Ivan and Andrea Rodriquez.

Fernando Lopez of Columbia said that regardless of country, “We are all one family.”

Roberto Marquez said he is a “dad of four” and wanted to the support the victims and their families, most who reportedly hailed from Mexico, about his work in organizing the vigil.

“We’re grateful we are getting people of all nationalities,” Marquez said.

Marquez met with Florencio Temoxtle and offered comfort.

As the vigil continued after an announced 6 p.m. start, traffic on State Road 40, a two-lane highway at the location, flowed steadily, if slowly.  A Marion County Sheriff’s Office deputy overseeing traffic noted there was no honking of horns as cars crawled along a roughly 75-foot section past the roadside memorial site as mourners huddled along the shoulder.

Ministers, including members of the nonprofit Ocala Farm Ministry, spoke as about 300 attendees prayed and shared supportive hugs.

Chaplain Bob Miller, with the Ocala Farm Ministry, said many of the farm workers also work in the horse industry in winter and the workers become like family.

Miller said the vigils are planned to continue this evening, May 18, and Sunday evening, May 19.

Minister Antonio Rivera, also with Ocala Farm Ministry, addressed the group with a message of the “salvation of Jesus Christ” while additional speakers prayed the rosary aloud with the group. Another speaker said the victims “passed on as believers,” according to a translator.

The bus, owned by a Leigh Acres, Florida, trucking company, was reportedly carrying traveling farmworkers, who were mostly from Mexico, to their current job, working in fields in near 90-degree temperatures at a Dunnellon area farm. A representative of the Florida Farmworkers Association based in Apopka indicated the workers on the bus were here on H-2A visas.

According to the Department of Labor website, dol.gov, the H-2A visa is for “temporary agricultural employment of foreign workers.” The website Citrus Industry.net reports that in 2020 there were 275,000 people with H-2A visas working in the U. S.

“Nationally, the average H-2A contract offered 24 weeks of work and 39.3 hours per week at an average hourly wage of $13,” the website states.

The May 14 crash occurred when Bryan Howard, 41, of Dunnellon, traveling east, entered the bus’s westbound travel lane and the bus struck the Ford Ranger pickup truck he was driving, according to be an initial evaluation of the crash in a Florida Highway Patrol arrest report. The bus left the road and hit two fences, struck a tree and overturned, the report states.

Howard currently stands charged with eight counts of DUI causing death and negligent vehicular homicide.

Meanwhile, Cannon Farms, where published or broadcast reports have stated the workers were headed for, was closed for a time following the crash “out of respect” for the losses and injuries, according to the farm’s Facebook page.

The page had a link to a GoFundMe account for the Farmworkers Association of Florida, a registered nonprofit. As of Saturday, May 18, the fund had raised $106,399.

“All proceeds will go to support the victims and their families affected by this terrible accident. Farmworkers tend to be forgotten, but it’s important not to forget farmworkers, especially during such difficult times,” the GoFundMe site noted.