UPDATE
A GoFundMe has been created for the family of 17-year-old David Ewing.
Originally reported by Boca Post
PALM BEACH COUNTY, FL (Boca Post) (Copyright © 2025) — A teen passenger was killed and several others were hospitalized Thursday night after a pickup truck crashed on Stumpers Grade Road inside the JW Corbett Wildlife Management Area, according to a Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office traffic report.
The crash occurred on November 27, 2025, with PBSO listing the incident time at 22:52 and the fatality time at 23:19. Deputies and Palm Beach County Fire Rescue responded to the area north of 94th Street North and the S-N Canal.
The report identifies the driver as James Robert Rankin Jr., 19, of Lake Worth. Four passengers were listed: David Ewing, 17; Daniel Pena, 21; Owen Havens, 19; and Vito DeAngelo, 21. All are male, according to the crash log.
PBSO says Rankin was driving a 2004 Chevy Silverado eastbound when he negotiated a curve and began to drift off the left side of the roadway. As he attempted to correct, the vehicle slid toward the right shoulder and rotated counterclockwise. The front passenger side then struck a tree.
The pickup came to rest against the tree.
Passenger David Ewing, seated in the vehicle’s right front seat, was pronounced dead at the scene by Palm Beach County Fire Rescue, according to the report.
Three others suffered significant injuries. PBSO lists Pena as “critical,” Havens as “critical,” and DeAngelo as “serious.” Rankin, the driver, sustained “serious” injuries.
Rankin and Havens were taken to St. Mary’s Medical Center with serious injuries. Pena and DeAngelo were also transported to St. Mary’s with critical and serious injuries. The crash report states that next of kin have been notified.
A note on one of the listed passengers: the report applies a Florida Statute 119.071(4)(d) address exemption to passenger Daniel Pena, and shows his address as PBSO Headquarters on Gun Club Road. While PBSO has not confirmed his employment, agencies typically use this exemption — and substitute the headquarters address — only when the involved person is an active law enforcement or corrections employee.
The Sheriff’s Office notes the case remains under investigation. No charges were listed, and none of the arrest or filing boxes are marked on the public log. PBSO’s Traffic Homicide Unit typically conducts a full reconstruction in fatal cases, a process that can take weeks.
The road cuts through a remote stretch of the JW Corbett Wildlife Management Area west of The Acreage, with limited lighting and sharp curves.
Boca Post will follow updates as investigators release more information.
