© Tampa Tribune, published November 17, 1998

Mom, daughter killed in fiery minivan crash

By DARLENE MCCORMICK

TAMPA - A mother and daughter are killed in a fiery three-car accident on West Hillsborough Avenue.

As the choir sang "Come to Jesus" Sunday night, Cindy Murakami's pastor threw down a challenge.

"Ask the person next to you if [Jesus] were to come home now, would you be ready to meet him?" Yes, the 45-year-old mother of three answered. She was ready.

Less than 24 hours later, Cindy Murakami and her 11-year-old daughter, Chelsea, died in a fiery three-car accident that may have involved drag racing, authorities and witnesses said.

"I know where she is," said Murakami's friend from church, Eva Tyler. Murakami's husband, Bruce, had just stopped by the house to kiss her and tell her how much they needed each other, said their pastor, Randy White. Then, mother and daughter headed to the Publix supermarket around the corner. As they were leaving the store about 2 p.m., a Dodge Intrepid hit the minivan.

The van burst into flames and struck a Jeep, which also caught fire. The Dodge ignited as well, authorities said. No one else was seriously injured.

Gray and white plumes of smoke rose into the afternoon sky. At the Murakamis' home, Bruce spotted the cloud and, curious, drove up the street.

He recognized the burning van immediately and fainted, falling to the pavement, troopers said.

Cindy and Chelsea were trapped inside.

"I had to back the car up - that's how hot the fire was," said Dan Smith, who was behind the Murakamis as they pulled out of Publix. "I think they got hit so hard that both of them were unconscious. There was no movement in the minivan."

The accident happened on West Hillsborough Avenue just east of Elliot Road, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. It is a stretch of road residents and business people complain about bitterly.

"They've already got flowers out here," said Ollie Hiers, the clerk at a convenience store two doors from Publix. "Since I've been here, I've seen five or six accidents within eyeshot of here."

One woman, quietly surveying the scene, said her 15-year-old son was killed near the same spot four years ago. Accident statistics for the newly widened stretch of highway were not available Monday. Like many who travel the road daily, the Murakamis live in one of the upscale subdivisions rimming Old Tampa Bay. Originally from Hawaii, they were days from moving to Oklahoma and a fresh start. The family was weathering financial problems, White said. They planned to move to Tulsa on Wednesday for new job opportunities and to be nearer their son Brody, 17, who attends a Christian school there. Another son Joshua, 25, attends Oral Roberts University in Oklahoma.

The Murakamis had sold all their furniture in preparation for the move. The money was in Cindy's purse, which burned in the fire, White added.

The Intrepid's driver, 19-year-old Justin Cabezas of 3743 Hampden Drive, was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital, where he was treated and released. He had not been charged.

The Jeep's driver, 19-year-old Susan Marques of Masaryktown, escaped her burning vehicle and appeared unharmed at the scene.

Witnesses said the Intrepid was drag racing with an older model Mustang, said Trooper Howard Arnold. That was still being investigated late Monday.

Those who knew the family said the church was their lives.

Chelsea, who attended a Christian school in St. Petersburg, was a popular, bright sixth-grader, said her friend Christina Tyler.

Cindy Murakami was a gourmet cook and a church volunteer who served as a teacher and receptionist. She and her husband, a construction contractor, had been married 20 years, friends said.

Eva Tyler, who sat beside Cindy Murakami at Without Walls International Church Sunday night, remembered the service as especially powerful.

"We take people for granted so much," she said. "This is why we live for the Lord."