Photos, Video and More of the Deadly Driver

The Broward Sheriff’s Office released more details about the deadly crash on Hillsboro in Deerfield Beach. Some young people from West Boca were involved including a driver now facing vehicular homicide, DUI and reckless driving charges.

Below, for paid subscribers, are photos and videos of the driver along with additional content related to the crash.

Raphael Candido Vilela was named by BSO as the driver at fault for the fatal accident early Sunday morning.

Just before 4 a.m., Raphael Candido Vilela was driving a 2005 BMW 530i traveling westbound on West Hillsboro Boulevard at a high rate of speed. Sebastian Espinoza was driving a 2018 Tesla Model 3 traveling eastbound in the designated left turn lane, turning northbound on Country Club Boulevard. As Espinoza’s Tesla entered the intersection, Vilela’s BMW struck the passenger side of the Tesla. 

The impact ripped the passenger side, rear seats and trunk area off the Tesla. 

Vilela is now 20 years old. BSO indicates that he was driving at a high rate of speed and was also intoxicated. It may not surprise our readers to learn that this behavior was predictable to anyone paying attention to Vilela’s public image, as he depicted himself on his own Facebook profile as Raphael Candido.

He not only posted pictures of himself with alcohol, but also at least one video drinking. Keep in mind that he’s under 21, and not only drinking but publicly bragging about it.

He also posted a video of himself driving in a not very polite manner. The audio from both videos is removed for technical reasons.

BSO also identified all the occupants of both vehicles:

Driver 1: Raphael Candido Vilela, 20, male, Boca Raton (IN CUSTODY)
Driver 2: Sebastian Espinoza, 18, male, Deerfield Beach     
Passenger 1: Alice Silva, 17, female, Coconut Creek 
Passenger 2: Giovannia Silva, 16, female, Boca Raton 
Passenger 3: Joao Coneglian, 17, male, Boca Raton 
Passenger 4: Thais Haug, 19, female, 9/11/1999, Deerfield Beach (DECEASED) 

The other driver, Espinoza, suffered only minor injuries. The BMW hit Espinoza’s Tesla on the side where his passenger, Thais Haug, was sitting. She did not survive.

Vilela and his three passengers are all in the hospital with serious injuries.

Vilela’s reported address is in Boca Entrada, aka Alister Apartments, on the west side of 441 near SW 18th and the county line. The car is registered in his parents’ names. It appears his mother is friends with him on Facebook but it’s not clear if she did anything about his public drinking or driving behavior. Certainly it appears they allowed him to continue driving their car, a BMW with over 500 horsepower.

We do not have addresses for the others. João Coneglian, a passenger in Vilela’s car, is also listed as living in Boca Raton. We don’t see anything particularly troubling in his Facebook profile.

We have not been able to find much information for the other passengers. Giovannia Silva is also listed as a Boca Raton resident and is only 16 years old. On first glance one might think Alice Silva is related to her but Silva is an extremely common name among Brazilians so we’re not sure.

A GoFundMe has been created for the deceased Thais Haug. We generally do not trust GoFundMe fundraisers unless we know who’s involved, but this one is endorsed by her brother. That’s up to readers to decide for themselves. It does have a photo of her and indicates she was just accepted to UCF.

It is somewhat disturbing to see that 6 people ages 16 to 20 were out at 4 in the morning. That’s a time of day when a lot of bad things happen, such as the shooting of Christo Maccius.

The initial police report pdf is below: