Man killed in motorcycle crash was ‘one of a kind’

PEMBROKE PINES — With a little more than an hour before he was due to start work on the night shift, Justin Michael Velez was likely heading home as he drove his 2007 BMW motorcycle west on Pembroke Road, according to his family.

But as Velez approached the intersection with Southwest 129th Avenue, the motorcycle collided with a car making a left turn and the Pembroke Pines man suffered fatal injuries.

Velez was flown to Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, where he was pronounced dead. He was 24.

“He loved motorcycles, dirt bikes and fast cars,” Yanira Velez said of her son. “We are devastated.”

The crash occurred at 7:44 p.m. Friday, according to Pembroke Pines Police Sgt. John Baker.

Juan Urquiza, 74, of Pembroke Pines, at the wheel of a 1996 Honda, was driving east on Pembroke Road, in the left turn lane. As he turned the car left onto Southwest 129 Avenue, the motorcycle crashed into the right front of the Honda, police said.

According to several witnesses, the motorcycle was traveling at a high rate of speed, police said.

On impact Velez’s motorcycle veered toward the northwest corner of the intersection, mounted the curb and struck a traffic signal box, a wooden light pole and a metal handrail, investigators said.

Urquiza’s wife, Miriam Urquiza, 70, riding in the Honda’s front passenger seat, was taken to Memorial Regional Hospital for treatment of injuries that were not life-threatening, police said.

Justin Velez graduated from Charles W. Flanagan High School in Pembroke Pines and worked with fiber optics at S2n Communications, his mother said. His regular shift began at 9 p.m.

Family and friends of Velez gathered in a memorial tribute Saturday at the scene of the crash.

“If you knew Justin you know he was always the life of the party,” wrote Lucas Gomez on a GoFundMe website set up to raise money for the family. “He was one of a kind and gave off nothing but positivity. Justin was the kind of person that when he put his mind to it he would achieve it.

“We are all going to miss him dearly,” said Gomez.

Baker said in an email Sunday that the investigation remained open as detectives had yet to interview a number of potential witnesses to the collision.

Funeral services are pending.

VELEZ FAMILY/COURTESY Justin Michael Velez, 24, of Pembroke Pines, was killed in a motorcycle crash on Friday.