Fatal Pinellas Circle K fire draws suit: ‘Not even a word that can explain how upset I am’
It was supposed to be a fun and light shopping day leading up to Christmas last year.
Sheryll Grace Delfin Caballes, a 46-year-old nurse at St. Joseph’s Hospital, decided to take time off work so she could run errands with her kids before the holidays. They hit the major big-box retail stores — Walmart, Target and Marshalls. Last on their list was a trip to a Palm Harbor Circle K to fill up the tank of their Honda SUV.
That visit to the gas station ended in tragedy. While Caballes was pumping gas, a 66-year-old woman backed her Nissan into the fuel pump, trapping Caballes and pinning her to the Honda as the pump burst into flames, according to the Florida Highway Patrol and the lawsuit.
Caballes’ death could have been prevented not only by the driver of the car, but also by Circle K employees who didn’t enact a number of safety measures, a lawsuit recently filed by Caballes’ family alleges. Workers didn’t activate emergency buttons that would have cut the flow of fuel and stopped the fire, the lawsuit states, and safety shear valves in the pump meant to cut off the flow of gas appear to have also failed.
“There’s not even a word that can explain how upset I am,” said Germel Caballes, Sheryll’s husband.
The couple grew up together as neighbors in the Philippines. At age 10, Germel wrote his first love letter to her. They became good friends, but Germel dated other girls and Sheryll eventually got her first boyfriend. She broke up with him, however, after a spring break conversation with Germel. The two started dating shortly after and married in October 1993.
The couple had three kids in the Philippines before moving their family to the United States in 2004. The economy in their home country was in bad shape. Sheryll worked as a nurse, and the United States was offering special visas to bring nurses into the country.
They initially moved to Miami, where Sheryll’s mother lived, but eventually made their way to the Tampa Bay area. They had two more children while living in Florida. Their children now range in age from 11 to 28.
Germel handled the cooking and laundry in the household, while Sheryll took responsibility for picking up the kids. She loved going to the beach, traveling and taking her family to see exhibits on Free Museum Day.
Sheryll enjoyed making crafts and volunteering at Metropolitan Ministries, where she would take her family to help out on Thanksgiving. She was an active member of St. Ignatius Catholic Church in Tarpon Springs, where the family attends Mass, her husband said.
Whenever she saw someone who was homeless, Sheryll would offer them food or water, Germel said. And when she died, it was a homeless man who helped get their kids to safety in the aftermath of the accident, Germel recalled.
The family is suing Lisa Black, the driver who backed into the gas pump, as well as Shell Oil, Circle K and two of its employees, among a handful of other entities.
Black was charged with careless driving on Sept. 1, said Florida Highway Patrol spokesperson Sgt. Steve Gaskins, who noted that it’s not unusual for traffic homicide investigations to take months to complete, as this one did.
Black could not be reached for comment at phone numbers listed under her name. Her attorney did not return a call and an email seeking comment. The attorneys representing Shell Oil, Circle K and its employees in the lawsuit did not return multiple calls seeking comment.
The lawsuit, which was filed in Florida’s 6th Judicial Circuit, is seeking more than $30,000 in damages.
Ben Whitman, who is representing Germel Caballes, said the legal team is still gathering evidence, but if their initial findings are confirmed, it could be “one of the most egregious cases” he has ever seen.
The lawsuit alleges that Circle K employees didn’t try to rescue Sheryll Caballes or try to put out the fire, nor did they hit emergency buttons that would have stopped the flow of gasoline to the pump. The buttons weren’t activated until first responders came to the scene, the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit also says that safety shear valves in the pump that would’ve stopped the flow of gas in a damaged pump also appear to have malfunctioned. But a contractor removed the gas pump from the scene before attorneys could investigate, the lawsuit states.
“As we have continued our investigation, every single time we learn something new, I have remained flabbergasted at just the nature of what happened and the nature of the decisions and actions made by the defendants that we sued in this lawsuit,” Whitman said.
After Sheryll’s death, there was an outpouring of support from the community, Germel said. A GoFundMe helped pay the bills, and from December to March, members of the church and others brought meals to the family.
But in April, Germel was in the hospital frequently with panic attacks. And in the months following his wife’s death, Germel has had to face milestones without her. At the end of September, she would have turned 47. This month, the pair would have celebrated their 29th wedding anniversary.
Shortly before Sheryll died, the couple went to a birthday lunch for Germel’s brother. Germel recalled watching his wife that day. Even after so many years together, he still thought she was beautiful, he said. It was one of their last memories together.
“I grew up with her, so she’s always there,” he said. “So, I’m just learning how to live by myself.”
