Five teens died in a devastating car accident Sunday when their vehicle crashed into a retention pond in Fort Myers, Florida. The girlfriend of one of the teen boys inside the vehicle said she was supposed to be with them that night. Jazlynn Rodriguez was dating Eric Cox but reportedly was too tired to hang out with the group on Sunday night. Instead, she had planned to see them the next day.
Tragically, she never saw Cox or the four other people in the car that night again. Cox, Amanda Ferguson, Breanna Coleman, Jackson Eyre, and Jesus Salinas died in the crash after four of them got off work at the Texas Roadhouse restaurant in Fort Myers. A memorial for the teens continues to grow, as does the reality that they are gone forever.
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Rodriguez said she was supposed to be in the car.
The teary-eyed teen spoke with NBC 2 about the fateful night she decided to stay home. She told the station she was too tired to go out, but that she and Cox had plans to go to the pool and have a bonfire the next day. She never thought he would be gone.
"I was like, 'No, I'll see you tomorrow. I'll see you all tomorrow, we're going to have fun tomorrow,'" she said.
Rodriguez said Cox was a true gentleman whom she loved.
She said he treated her well and made her realize that she didn't ever deserve less.
"The last thing I told him was, 'I miss you. I'm excited to see you tomorrow.' He said, 'I miss you too, baby. I'm ready to see you again,'" she cried.
"I was supposed to be in that car. I was supposed to be in that car. Sometimes I wish that I did go with them," Rodriguez told NBC 2.
She will undoubtedly miss her boyfriend terribly.
The restaurant was an excellent environment for the teens to work and become friends.
A former coworker, Lylah Law, told the News-Press she worked with Cox, Ferguson, and Eyre; they were all her friends. She remembered them fondly and said they all loved working together.
"The environment with Texas Roadhouse, we were all young, we were all teenagers, we were all like best friends," Law said.
Texas Roadhouse is planning a memorial for the beloved teens.
The restaurant was closed on Monday, so family and friends could gather to pay their respects to the teens. Alan Hansen, a market partner for nine Texas Roadhouses in Florida, told WINK News the restaurant planned to install a memorial to the team members he lost.
"It's a place of comfort for many of them. These four kids, they worked with us a lot. They spent a lot of time here," Hansen said. "This is where we come together to break bread, at Texas Roadhouse here tonight, and their families are obviously welcome. We just want to recognize their lives and the good that they've done in our society and in our group here at Texas Roadhouse."
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Police still don't know the exact cause of the crash.
Investigators are still looking at details surrounding the crash near the restaurant where Challenger Boulevard turns into Top Golf Way. They believe the driver lost control of the car. Loved ones think it was just a freak accident.
Elizabeth Ferguson, Amanda's mother, told NBC 2 she didn't think there was anything sinister about the night her daughter and friends died.
"I think they were five friends out having fun, and it was a terrible accident. A freak accident. I have no questions," Ferguson said.
The heartbroken mother said they were a good group of kids. "The world is definitely a sadder place without them here."
