Miami Jury Awards $31 Million to Fiancée of Man Killed in ‘Flying Tire’ Highway Tragedy
In a high-stakes courtroom battle that underscored growing concerns over commercial vehicle safety, a Miami-Dade County jury has returned a $31 million verdict in favor of Julianna Charles, the fiancée of 25-year-old Josué Calá, who died in a horrifying highway accident caused by a detached wheel from a commercial truck.
The verdict, delivered after two weeks of testimony and five hours of jury deliberations, concluded a case that has come to symbolize systemic negligence in the trucking and logistics industries. The Flying Tire tragedy occurred on June 5, 2018, when Calá and Charles were traveling northbound on Interstate 95 near Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Without warning, a tire and wheel assembly separated from a commercial delivery truck traveling in the opposite direction, flew over the median divider, and crashed directly through the windshield of Calá’s SUV.
The impact was devastating. Calá, who was driving, suffered catastrophic injuries and was killed instantly. According to trial testimony, the force of the tire was so Flying Tire severe that it nearly decapitated him. Charles, who was seated in the passenger seat, survived the crash but suffered serious physical injuries and enduring emotional trauma. In the aftermath of the crash, she filed a lawsuit alleging gross negligence on the part of multiple companies and individuals responsible for the truck’s operation and maintenance.
“This tragedy should raise serious concerns about the lack of proper practices in the trucking industry,” said attorney Wes Ball of Kaster Lynch Farrar & Ball, one of the lead trial lawyers representing Charles. “This is not just about one defective truck. It’s about an Flying Tire industry-wide failure to uphold the most basic standards of vehicle safety. It should be a wake-up call for transportation companies, insurance providers, and lawmakers who are increasingly colluding to dilute safety regulations that protect the public.”
The civil complaint filed by Charles named eight defendants, including Marazul Enterprise, the small trucking company that owned the vehicle; XPO Logistics ,Flying Tire the multinational transportation and delivery corporation that subcontracted the delivery work; and Lowe’s Home Centers, a major retail client. According to court records and expert testimony presented during trial, the truck involved in the accident had not been adequately inspected or maintained, leading to the catastrophic failure of the wheel assembly.
Jurors found that driver Francisco Romero, who was operating the delivery truck at the time of the incident, bore 30% of the responsibility for the accident. However, they also determined that Romero was acting as an agent of XPO Logistics, thereby making the logistics giant legally liable not only for its own role in the incident but also for Romero’s negligence. The remaining 70% of liability was divided equally between XPO Logistics and Marcelo Munoz, the owner of Marazul Enterprise.
Attorneys for the plaintiff presented evidence that the delivery truck had been in poor mechanical condition and that there were warning signs and service records indicating prior issues with the wheels and axles. They argued that the defendants Flying Tire had failed in their duty to perform necessary safety checks and had cut corners on routine maintenance to save costs—decisions that directly contributed to the fatal crash.
“This verdict shows that juries will hold powerful corporations accountable when they put profits over people,” said attorney Skip Lynch, who also represented Charles at trial alongside Ball and fellow partner Kyle Farrar. “It was clear from the evidence Flying Tire that this wasn’t an unavoidable accident. It was a preventable disaster caused by a chain of negligent decisions.”
The trial team from Kaster Lynch Farrar & Ball is no stranger to high-profile litigation. The same attorneys were part of the legal team that successfully represented the families of Sandy Hook victims in a landmark defamation case against far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, which resulted in a nearly $1 billion jury award. They also secured a massive verdict against Mitsubishi in a case involving defective seatbelts.
In this case, the legal strategy focused on connecting the dots between corporate oversight failures and the human cost of those decisions. Witnesses included mechanical engineers, trucking safety experts, and accident reconstruction specialists who explained how and why the wheel detached from the moving vehicle.
The accident itself became a central element of the courtroom narrative. Jurors were shown photos of the aftermath, including the mangled SUV and the tire embedded in the windshield. Charles, during her emotional testimony, recounted the terror of the crash, the loss of her fiancé, and the ongoing psychological impact that continues to shape her life years later.
“She will never forget what she saw that day, nor the Flying Tire man she lost,” said Farrar. “No amount of money can bring Josué back, but this verdict gives Julianna the justice and closure she deserves, and it sends a clear message to the industry.”
The lawsuit, officially titled Charles v. Marazul Enterprise Inc., et al., was filed under case number 2020-011693-CA-01 in the 11th Judicial Circuit Court in Miami-Dade County, Florida.
The $31 million award is intended to compensate Charles for both economic and non-economic damages, including loss of companionship, future income, medical costs, and pain and suffering. Legal experts say the size of the verdict could prompt broader scrutiny of how subcontracting and fleet maintenance are managed across the commercial transportation sector.
“This is exactly the kind of case that exposes the hidden dangers of how today’s delivery networks operate,” said transportation law analyst Michael Guerra. “You have large corporations outsourcing services to smaller operators with fewer resources and less oversight. The result is a patchwork of responsibility that can be deadly when something goes wrong.”
Kaster Lynch Farrar & Ball, the firm representing Charles, is known nationally for its work against auto and tire manufacturers in complex product liability cases. Their track record includes litigation involving tire tread separation, high-speed rollovers, and faulty vehicle components. The firm has earned a reputation for uncovering internal documents and exposing negligence that might otherwise go unnoticed.
“This was a team effort, driven by the pursuit of truth and accountability,” Ball said. “What happened to Josué should never happen again.”
The firm encourages lawmakers to take a harder look at trucking safety regulations, particularly as demand for delivery services continues to rise. They argue that unless safety and maintenance standards are enforced with greater vigor, more innocent lives will be at risk.
