Melbourne pedestrian killed in Brightline collision; second fatality in three months

J.D. Gallop, Florida Today
Updated ·2 min read
2

MELBOURNE — A 36-year-old woman was killed Sunday night in Melbourne in a collision with a Brightline train, the second such incident in the city in three months.

The deadly Christmas Eve collision happened about 7 p.m. along the railroad tracks that cut across Aurora Road, near the same location where a 60-year-old woman was struck and killed by a Brightline train on Oct. 19, police reported.

Brightline high speed rail testing on August 8, 2023. Photo taken at the crossing at Suntree Blvd. between Rockledge and Melbourne.
Brightline high speed rail testing on August 8, 2023. Photo taken at the crossing at Suntree Blvd. between Rockledge and Melbourne.

The east-west road was closed for several hours after Melbourne police roped off 150 to 200 yards of area surrounding the track as traffic homicide investigators oversaw the collection of evidence, said Lt. Ian Mitchell, a watch commander with the Melbourne Police Department. The woman was identified as Katherine Stimus, Melbourne, the agency reported.

Stimus' body were turned over to the medical examiner's office. An autopsy will be conducted later this week. A Brightline spokesperson did not immediately return calls about the crash.

More: Pedestrian killed in Brightline passenger train collision in Melbourne

The privately owned passenger train — which moves through Melbourne at about 80 mph at least 30 times a day — has no stops in Brevard County.

Since the start of the route in September, police have warned residents with signs and notices to be alert to the fast-moving trains, which use train tracks that parallel the busy U.S. 1 corridor in the county, including the heavily pedestrian downtown Melbourne area.

The train that connects Miami to Orlando also blares a horn when approaching intersections or cutting through heavily populated areas.

Melbourne police investigated a October crash involving a person struck and killed by a Brightline passenger train.
Melbourne police investigated a October crash involving a person struck and killed by a Brightline passenger train.

TCPalm reported Oct. 16 that at least 364 people have been killed by trains belonging to 13 different companies in Florida since 2017.

Brightline trains killed more people per mile in the U.S. last year and more people in Florida since its founding in 2017 than any other railroad company, a TCPalm analysis of federal data found.

J.D. Gallop is a criminal justice/breaking news reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallop at 321-917-4641 or jgallop@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @JDGallop.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Melbourne pedestrian killed in Brightline collision