Irina Reinoso died in car crash soon after her friend, driving the automobile in which the women were traveling, sent a chilling text message to her boyfriend. The accident took place on Aug. 14, 2013.
Mila Dago, the Florida woman operating the vehicle at the time of the crash, is currently awaiting trial in the Sunshine State.
Dago had recently broken up with her boyfriend, sending him 60 texts during the course of the evening of the accident, according to police records. Some of the messages sent by the woman seem to be prophetic, or at least chilling, in hindsight.
"Driving drunk woo... I'll be dead thanks to you. Lata," one text message read.
Following an evening of bar-hopping, the 22-year-old woman was driving a rented Smart Car, along with Reinoso, who was the same age. At 4:44 a.m., Dago allegedly ran a red light, colliding with a pickup truck. The passenger in the Smart Car was killed instantly, and the driver of the other vehicle, 51-year-old Benjamin Byrum, was knocked unconscious in the accident.
No suspicious text messages have been seen by authorities during the days leading up to the fatal car wreck. Dago is said to have told a friend she hoped to see a meteor shower, and talked about hair styles. Only that evening had the messages turned angry, full of vitriol.
Dago was charged with manslaughter, vehicular homicide, and driving under the influence. She pleaded not guilty to each of the charges leveled against her.
The messages became public when they were entered into evidence in the court case against the defendant.
"Ms. Dago, who, with her family, prays every day for the young woman who passed and her family, believes it is disrespectful to the young woman's family to publicly comment," said David Rothman, Dago's defense attorney.
Reinoso and Dago had only known each other for a couple months before that tragic summer night. During the course of the evening, the pair had visited nightclubs including the Electric Pickle and Blackbird Ordinary.
Dago and her lover had an argument during the afternoon of the accident, which prompted the flurry of messages. For much of the evening, the man, identified only as DJ, ignored the texts. Around 20 minutes after the accident, he wrote back, "What you talking about your physco stop weirdo," The Miami Herald reports.
Civil lawsuits have also been filed against the 24-year-old defendant, as well as Car2Go, who owned the rental car. No trial date has yet been set for Dago.
