Sara Vasquez was known as a deeply caring and attentive mother who devoted herself to her children. That dedication, however, played an indirect role in her death. After spending a sleepless night caring for her kids, Vasquez agreed to go on a motorcycle ride with her boyfriend, hoping a bit of fresh air would help. Instead, her exhaustion overwhelmed her. During the ride, she fell asleep, lost her balance and fell from the motorcycle. Her family is now left to pick up the pieces in the aftermath of the tragic accident.
The crash happened around 2 p.m. on December 26, 2025, according to News 6. The Florida Highway Patrol said the 34-year-old was riding as a passenger on a motorcycle driven by her boyfriend, 45-year-old Ricardo Bernal.
Investigators believe Vasquez fell asleep while riding and then fell from the motorcycle, striking a guardrail, WESH reported. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities said neither Vasquez nor Bernal was wearing a helmet at the time.
Bernal was not injured and remained at the scene, police said.
He was later arrested and charged with driving with a revoked license as a habitual traffic offender resulting in death, driving with a suspended or revoked license, and operating a motorcycle without the proper endorsement, according to reports.
“He thought the air would, you know, reinvigorate her or refresh her,” Vasquez’s stepfather, Alan Keyser, told News 6. “Well, when he took her out on the motorcycle ride, she was exhausted and it made her fall asleep.”
A GoFundMe page created for Vasquez’s mother, Maria Keyser, said the mother of three had been awake all night caring for her children before the accident. A relative later came to give her time to rest, but instead, she went on the fatal motorcycle ride.
The fundraiser described Vasquez as a “joyful, attentive, and deeply devoted mother” to her children, two of whom are autistic. “She was the heart of their world, their constant, their safe place,” the page said.
Alan Keyser told News 6 that he and his wife plan to bring Vasquez’s 14- and 12-year-old sons to live with them in Michigan. Her 4-year-old son, whom she shared with Bernal, will remain in Florida with his father’s family.
“We don’t really want to take the baby out of his environment because we’re strangers to him,” Keyser said. “We’re trying to do the most responsible adult thing that we can do.”
According to the report, Bernal later posted a $5,500 bond.
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