Family Financially Devastated After Mother Killed When Tesla Crashed Into Palm Harbor Home

PALM HARBOR, FL — Friday's news that the Florida Highway Patrol arrested a man accused of causing the crash that killed their mother wasn't much consolation for Lindsey Jones and Amber Michelle Mooney of Palm Harbor.

At 10:21 p.m. Friday, Sept. 3, Donna Rein, who would have turned 70 years old in October, was relaxing at home at 1498 Caird Way with her daughter, Lindsey, and Lindsey's boyfriend when a 2021 Tesla Model S Plaid ran a stop sign on Manning Road, struck an embankment and became airborne, crashing into Rein's home.

Rein, along with her granddaughter's Yorkshire terrier, Lily, as well as a passenger in the Tesla, were killed. And Lindsey Jones and her three children, including two daughters who are both nonverbal autistic, were left homeless.

On Friday morning, Florida Highway Patrol troopers arrested the driver of the Tesla, Vaughn W. Mongan, 43, of Palm Harbor, and charged him with two counts of vehicular homicide, three counts of reckless driving resulting in serious injury, and one count of reckless driving resulting in property damage. He was taken to the Pinellas County Jail.

During their investigation into the crash, troopers determined that Mongan was traveling at a minimum speed of 116 mph in a 30 mph residential area when the crash occurred.

Rein's daughters' grief over the loss of their mother has been compounded by a series of disasters that has left the family in dire financial straits.

Rein retired from her job to help Jones take care of her granddaughters, who lived with her. Her death has left Jones the sole caregiver for her daughters.

Just days after their mother's death, Amber Mooney was involved in a head-on collision and has been out of work for more than a month. Additionally, her husband was hospitalized with a serious illness.

After Jones and her daughters spent weeks living in a hotel, Mooney was able to find them a rental home but said they're all struggling to pay their bills, she said.

Family friend Erin Flynn set up a GoFundMe account to raise money to assist the family. To date, $47,020 has been donated.

"The home and their lives are completely destroyed," Flynn said. "Donna was the main caregiver for her daughter, Lindsey, and her two special-needs grandchildren who were always by their grandmother's side."

Although, biologically, Donna Rein was the mother of three children and the grandmother of eight Mooney said Rein was a surrogate mother for all of their friends.

"She did everything for everyone. She had the biggest heart in the world. Everybody loved her," Mooney said. "All of our friends thought of her as a second mom."

In addition to the GoFundMe campaign, family and friends have sought the help of local restaurants and bars, which have hosted one fundraiser for the family and is planning another.

Mooney relayed the following message to the community through Patch:

"I would like to start by thanking each and every one of you for your thoughts, prayers and continued donations. As much as I hate to say it, we still need more help. Our family continues to have what seems like a black cloud over us. After our mother’s death on Sept. 3, I was struck head on in my vehicle, causing a concussion, severe whiplash and multiple herniated disks in my neck. Followed by my husband, Casey, becoming so severely sick with a rare bacterial pneumonia (it's not proven, however, we believe that he got it from cleaning up the wreckage at my mom's house after the accident) which landed him in the hospital for 15 days. We have both been out of work for a month and are slowly starting to recover. I will continue to do anything and everything in my power to take care of my sister and my nieces, but our whole family needs so much help right now. We were finally able to get my sister into a rental home of her own after many weeks living in hotels, but we will need ongoing help to continue to pay her rent and bills and take care of her the way my mom would for the rest of her life."

Anyone who can help is encouraged to visit the GoFundMe page.

GoFundMe is a Patch promotion partner.

See related stories:

• Family Devastated After Car Crashes Through Home, Killing Mother
• Resident, Passenger Die When Tesla Crashes Into Palm Harbor Home