VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — The Florida Highway Patrol is reopening its investigation into the 2024 crash that killed Kaylee Kennedy, the 19-year-old daughter of a Volusia County deputy.
FHP informed Kennedy’s family and their attorney that the case will be reassigned to the agency’s Specialized Investigations and Reconstruction Teams, known as SIRT.
The decision follows a 9 Investigates exclusive in June that revealed conflicting conclusions in reports from the crash investigation. Kennedy was 19 when she died and was approaching her 20th birthday.
“During the course of our internal review by our subject matter experts at the Traffic Homicide Coordinator’s Office, it was determined that the investigation will be reopened and reassigned to our Specialized Investigations and Reconstruction Teams,” FHP wrote in an email to the family. “This will allow us to conduct additional comprehensive review and ensure all available evidence is further evaluated.”
FHP also said an event data recorder expert expects to determine within the next several weeks whether any data can be recovered from Kennedy’s Jeep.
Kennedy’s father, Darren Kennedy, is a Volusia County deputy. He discovered what the family described as significant inconsistencies between reports generated during the original investigation.
A notice submitted by the family and its attorney alleged that certain investigative steps were never completed. It said search warrants were issued but not executed, records and toxicology evidence were collected from one party but not the other, and license plate reader data was never retrieved.
Some of the same investigators assigned to Kennedy’s crash also worked on the investigation that led to the wrongful arrest of Lindsey Isaacs.
Isaacs was accused of causing an Interstate 4 crash that killed three people and faced the possibility of life in prison. Another FHP team later stepped in, cleared Isaacs and identified a different suspect after finding that evidence had been overlooked.
That specialized team will now conduct the additional review of Kennedy’s case.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
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