A 33-year-old Port St. Lucie man was killed and a 27-year-old Dallas, N.C., woman who stopped to help was critically injured in a sequence of crashes early Friday on northbound Interstate 95 in Brevard County, according to the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP).

The first crash occurred just after midnight when the Port St. Lucie man, driving a sedan, changed lanes near State Road 46 and collided with a sport utility vehicle, forcing the SUV into a ditch. The sedan then spun and became disabled in the inside northbound lane.

Sequence of Pedestrian Crashes
The driver of the disabled sedan exited his vehicle and became a pedestrian in the roadway. He was then struck by two separate vehicles traveling in the inside lane, the second and third crashes of the night.

The Port St. Lucie man, identified as Pedestrian 1 in the FHP report, was pronounced deceased at the scene.

A good Samaritan from Dallas, N.C., identified as Pedestrian 2, then stopped to assist the man. She was in the center lane when a fifth vehicle, a Nissan Murano, struck her despite the driver attempting to swerve away.

She was airlifted to HCA Lake Monroe Hospital in critical but stable condition.

Injuries and Investigation
The driver of the first SUV involved, a 45-year-old Weston man, was transported to Parrish Medical Center with minor injuries.

Four other drivers and one passenger involved in the chain-reaction crashes were not injured and remained on the scene. The crash remains under investigation by the FHP