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1-Car Crash Kills 2 Pasco Teens On I-75

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By LISA A. DAVIS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 5, 2008

Updated: 05/05/2008 08:40 pm

WESLEY CHAPEL - Kristin Gaskin and Tabitha Pastrana were good friends and members of the Wesley Chapel High School yearbook staff.

Both seniors, Gaskin, 17, and Pastrana, 18, were killed Monday afternoon in a single-vehicle, rollover crash on Interstate 75, north of State Road 54, the Florida Highway Patrol said.

News of the wreck had not circulated through the school by the time students and staff left campus, Principal Andy Frelick said. "The [school district's] crisis team will be in here first thing in the morning," he said. "Unfortunately, we've been through this before."

According to the highway patrol:

Pastrana, of Wesley Chapel, was driving a 2002 Mitsubishi Eclipse north on I-75 when she lost control. The car went into the shoulder and into the woods, slamming into trees, overturning and landing on its roof about 1 p.m.

Pastrana, who was not wearing a seat belt, died at the scene. Gaskin, of San Antonio, was flown to St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa, where she died. She had been wearing a seat belt.

The crash is under investigation.

Frelick said the girls were popular. "I've known Kristin since she was in third grade," he said. "I coached her soccer team. I know they've both been involved with the yearbook and in that class for a couple years."

Frelick said Pastrana was in an on-the-job training program and usually got out of school at 12:05 p.m. Gaskin typically left about 1 p.m.

In September, Wesley Chapel High students participated in the Florida Sheriffs Association's Teen Driver Challenge, a program that features accident statistics, safety tips, graphic videotapes and actual driving time. At the time, the school district reported that Wesley Chapel students had been involved in four fatal crashes during the previous 14 months.

The month before the sheriff's course, student Mathew Laidley, 17, was killed when the sport utility vehicle he was riding in flipped on nearby Curley Road after school was out. The driver, Adam Sanford, 17, and another passenger, Katelin Kaiser, survived but suffered serious injuries.

Reporter Geoff Fox can be reached at (813) 948-4217 or gfox@tampatrib.com. Reporters Ronnie Blair and Lisa A. Davis contributed to this story.

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