Motorcycle wreck shatters family's hopes
By LYDA LONGA
Staff Writer
Last update: December 22, 2005
ORMOND BEACH -- Almost 10 years after she left her war-torn homeland of Bosnia, Azra Malagic was making plans to return to her country, hoping to open a family-style restaurant in Sarajevo.
The 17-year-old high school junior wanted to study culinary arts in New York City, her older sister said, and then head back home to open her first eatery.
"She had her entire life planned out," Emina Malagic said.
But the petite, bubbly girl with the ready smile became the third teen to die in a Volusia County traffic accident this week. As of Tuesday, 124 people had died in traffic accidents in the county, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Friday night, Azra Malagic and her friend, Ronnie Allen Rush of Bunnell, talked for a few minutes at the 7-Eleven store where the Mainland High School girl worked part time. Malagic was on her break and Rush offered to take her for a short spin on his blue Suzuki bike, police and her family said.
The pair were headed south on Riverside Drive when Rush, 23, lost control of the motorcycle. A police report indicates he was probably speeding.
Within seconds, Malagic and Rush flew off the bike, crashing into the pavement.
Malagic died instantly, police said; Rush was taken to Halifax Medical Center where hospital officials listed him in critical condition. He is in a medically induced coma, police said.
Ormond Beach Sgt. Kenny Hayes said an investigation will determine whether charges will be filed against Rush, who was driving with a suspended license.
Emina Malagic said she doesn't think Rush is even aware that Azra is dead.
She, on the other hand, can't believe her little sister is gone.
"I don't know what I'm going to do without her," the 25-year-old woman said this week in front of her parents' townhouse on Chipping Wood Lane. "She always listened to me when I had a problem, when I was upset."
The older sister, petite like Azra, described how she and her sibling had bonded as children, despite their age difference.
Her family left Bosnia after the start of the Bosnian War in the early 1990s. "When we came to this country we were always together," Emina Malagic said. "We lived in Connecticut for years; then we came to Florida last year because we had some friends here.
"Now I wish we had never come to Florida," she added, frowning.
The girls' father, mother and aunt sat close to each other on the sofa Tuesday, their faces masked in the blank stare of grief. They speak little English.
At the end of this week, Azra and Emina's father and uncle plan to take Azra's body to Bosnia. The girls' mother won't attend Azra's funeral, Emina said, because she is too devastated and fragile to make the trip home.
When the father and uncle return, the family faces a difficult decision -- whether to stay in America or return to Bosnia.
"We have nothing here in Florida, except memories of Azra," Emina said. "In Bosnia, at least we have family. And we're going to need our family to get through this."
One person who does not want the Malagic family to leave is their neighbor, Phil Kirk, who said Azra was like a daughter to him.
A former Navy pilot during the Vietnam war, Kirk was reduced to tears more than once in his living room as he recalled his relationship with the young woman.
"I lost a lot of friends in Vietnam," the 70-year-old Kirk said, his voice cracking. "But no death has ever affected me as much as Azra's."
Kirk said he used to stop in at the 7-Eleven where the teenager worked and she would always greet him by saying, "There's my favorite person in the whole world."
He said he asked a priest why God would have taken Azra.
"He told me that God sometimes takes the good ones," Kirk said.
Staff Writer
Last update: December 22, 2005
ORMOND BEACH -- Almost 10 years after she left her war-torn homeland of Bosnia, Azra Malagic was making plans to return to her country, hoping to open a family-style restaurant in Sarajevo.
The 17-year-old high school junior wanted to study culinary arts in New York City, her older sister said, and then head back home to open her first eatery.
"She had her entire life planned out," Emina Malagic said.
But the petite, bubbly girl with the ready smile became the third teen to die in a Volusia County traffic accident this week. As of Tuesday, 124 people had died in traffic accidents in the county, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Friday night, Azra Malagic and her friend, Ronnie Allen Rush of Bunnell, talked for a few minutes at the 7-Eleven store where the Mainland High School girl worked part time. Malagic was on her break and Rush offered to take her for a short spin on his blue Suzuki bike, police and her family said.
The pair were headed south on Riverside Drive when Rush, 23, lost control of the motorcycle. A police report indicates he was probably speeding.
Within seconds, Malagic and Rush flew off the bike, crashing into the pavement.
Malagic died instantly, police said; Rush was taken to Halifax Medical Center where hospital officials listed him in critical condition. He is in a medically induced coma, police said.
Ormond Beach Sgt. Kenny Hayes said an investigation will determine whether charges will be filed against Rush, who was driving with a suspended license.
Emina Malagic said she doesn't think Rush is even aware that Azra is dead.
She, on the other hand, can't believe her little sister is gone.
"I don't know what I'm going to do without her," the 25-year-old woman said this week in front of her parents' townhouse on Chipping Wood Lane. "She always listened to me when I had a problem, when I was upset."
The older sister, petite like Azra, described how she and her sibling had bonded as children, despite their age difference.
Her family left Bosnia after the start of the Bosnian War in the early 1990s. "When we came to this country we were always together," Emina Malagic said. "We lived in Connecticut for years; then we came to Florida last year because we had some friends here.
"Now I wish we had never come to Florida," she added, frowning.
The girls' father, mother and aunt sat close to each other on the sofa Tuesday, their faces masked in the blank stare of grief. They speak little English.
At the end of this week, Azra and Emina's father and uncle plan to take Azra's body to Bosnia. The girls' mother won't attend Azra's funeral, Emina said, because she is too devastated and fragile to make the trip home.
When the father and uncle return, the family faces a difficult decision -- whether to stay in America or return to Bosnia.
"We have nothing here in Florida, except memories of Azra," Emina said. "In Bosnia, at least we have family. And we're going to need our family to get through this."
One person who does not want the Malagic family to leave is their neighbor, Phil Kirk, who said Azra was like a daughter to him.
A former Navy pilot during the Vietnam war, Kirk was reduced to tears more than once in his living room as he recalled his relationship with the young woman.
"I lost a lot of friends in Vietnam," the 70-year-old Kirk said, his voice cracking. "But no death has ever affected me as much as Azra's."
Kirk said he used to stop in at the 7-Eleven where the teenager worked and she would always greet him by saying, "There's my favorite person in the whole world."
He said he asked a priest why God would have taken Azra.
"He told me that God sometimes takes the good ones," Kirk said.