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14-year-old Fleming High School student hit, killed by car

By Alyana Gomez
By Alyana Gomez

CLAY COUNTY, Fla. — A 14-year-old student was hit and killed by a 58-year-old driver from Orange Park in Fleming Island Thursday morning.

The Florida Highway Patrol responded to a fatal crash around 6:40 a.m. at the intersection of Woodlake Drive and Eagle Harbor Parkway, near Fleming Island Elementary School. Lanes of Eagle Harbor Parkway near Woodlake Drive were closed until about 10 a.m.

The Florida Highway Patrol said the 14-year-old girl, Gianna Asencio, was hit when crossing the street at the crosswalk and later died.

Mary Justino with the Clay County Sheriff's Office said Gianna attended Fleming Island High School.

The crash happened at a school zone near Fleming Island Elementary School. The school zone isn't activated until after 7:45 a.m., and the crash happened prior to that, said Mary Justino with the Clay County Sheriff's Office.

Justino said Fleming Island High School does have an early morning school zone and CCSO crossing guard who is closer to the school.

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FHP said at this time it does not believe speed was a factor and the driver likely won't face any charges.

Hundreds of students gathered today, hand in hand, to remember the life of a fellow classmate. A photo of a prayer circle earlier Thursday was taken by Jeffrey Hunnicut, a close friend Gianna.

"She was so sweet, she was kind, she had the cutest little laugh," Hunnicut said.

"As she was walking to the bus stop that's when she got hit," he said.

The tragic news spread quickly at Fleming High. Hunnicut said he heard about it on Twitter but didn't know the victim was Gianna until he talked to the cheer coach, who taught Gianna's second period class.

"We both just stood there and bawled our eyes out," Hunnicut said.

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He and Gianna both loved photography and sat next to each other in that class.

"We had one project where we had to take self-portraits and we took self-portraits of each other. She was so beautiful, the way she could take a picture, set up a picture for herself, just made her look gorgeous," Hunnicut said.

Friends said Gianna loved gymnastics; she was tumbling at Island Cheer Allstars and wanted to try out for the school's cheerleading team next year.

"It breaks my heart knowing that next year Fleming Island won't have her as a cheerleader," Hunnicut said.

Action News spoke with Gianna's father off-camera. He said he always worried about her walking when it was dark in the morning but said Gianna preferred to walk.

We're told she and her family just moved to Fleming Island last summer from New York and that she was much happier here.

Click here to learn more about a GoFundMe fund set up for Gianna's family.
 

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