KAYLA MARIA MENDOZA | The "2 Drunk 2 Care" Driver | Drunk Driving Incident Claims Lives of Two Young Women in Head-on Collision | Self-proclaimed 'pothead princess' Final Tweet Became a Tombstone | Sentenced to 24 Years | ALS

Mendoza, K. Autographed Letter, Signed. Handwritten, Commercial #10 (4.125 × 9.5 envelope). Miami, FL. May 20, 2025. Content unknown. SEALED.

Kayla Maria Mendoza, a 20-year-old Florida woman whose infamous tweet “2 drunk 2 care” preceded a fatal head-on collision by mere hours, became a national symbol of recklessness and youthful disregard for life. Her decision to drive the wrong way down a Florida highway while intoxicated led to the deaths of two promising young women, both best friends and university students. This tragedy not only ended multiple lives but also forced a public reckoning with social media bravado, underage drinking, and driving under the influence. The story that follows chronicles Mendoza’s path from an immature and impulsive office worker to a convicted felon serving a decades-long sentence, revealing the haunting aftermath left in her wake.

2 Drunk 2 Care: The Fatal Tweet of Kayla Maria Mendoza

Kayla Maria Mendoza was born on November 20, 1992, in Miami, Florida, to a working-class family of Cuban-American descent. She grew up in South Florida, immersed in a cultural blend of Latin pride and American convenience, raised in a household that prized loyalty and appearance but rarely dealt with deeper emotional issues. Her adolescent years were marked by an active social life, relatively poor academic performance, and a digital presence that began to shape her self-image. Like many of her peers, Mendoza sought validation online—Twitter became her confessional booth and performance stage. Her handle, @highimkayla, featured an unfiltered glimpse into her chaotic inner life, often referencing marijuana, alcohol, and a disregard for consequence.

Though she never attended college, Mendoza worked as a sales assistant at a Broward County-based company called The Collection, an Audi dealership, where she had reportedly met her boyfriend, who was older and had introduced her to a faster-paced lifestyle. She had no prior criminal record, no known gang affiliations, and was not under any psychiatric care at the time of the incident. To her followers, she was just another brash, sarcastic, self-obsessed young woman chronicling her nights out and morning regrets—until she became a national headline.

On the night of November 17, 2013, Mendoza attended a social outing with co-workers. She drank heavily, despite being underage and reportedly without a valid driver’s license. That night, she also tweeted “2 drunk 2 care” at 11:07 p.m., a phrase that would later be etched into the public consciousness as a haunting epitaph of recklessness. Just a few hours later, in the early hours of November 18, Mendoza entered the Sawgrass Expressway in Coral Springs, Florida, driving the wrong way in her Hyundai Sonata at approximately 80 mph. The highway was dark, and traffic was light—until her car slammed head-on into a 2012 Toyota Camry occupied by Kaitlyn Ferrante and Marisa Catronio, both 21 years old and lifelong best friends.

The impact was catastrophic. Marisa Catronio died at the scene. Kaitlyn Ferrante suffered massive brain injuries and was placed on life support, but succumbed to her injuries two days later. Mendoza also sustained serious injuries, including broken legs and internal bleeding, but she survived.

The collision stunned the South Florida community and quickly made national headlines, fueled in large part by the chilling proximity of Mendoza’s “2 drunk 2 care” tweet to the crash. Social media users, media outlets, and public officials seized upon the post as emblematic of a generation perceived to be self-centered and dangerously impulsive. The crash ignited calls for better highway safety measures, including wrong-way driver detection systems and stricter penalties for DUI.

Police obtained a warrant for Mendoza’s hospital blood sample. The results were damning: her blood alcohol content registered at 0.15—nearly twice the legal limit. Moreover, toxicology tests showed traces of marijuana in her system. On May 19, 2014, Mendoza was formally arrested while still recovering from her injuries. The Florida Highway Patrol, who led the investigation, charged her with two counts of DUI manslaughter, two counts of vehicular homicide, and additional DUI-related charges.

The trial was delayed several times as Mendoza’s defense team negotiated plea options and disputed elements of intent and impairment. In February 2015, she entered a guilty plea as part of a deal to avoid a trial that would have likely ended in a harsher sentence. On May 4, 2015, Kayla Maria Mendoza was sentenced to 24 years in prison, followed by six years of probation, and a permanent revocation of her driver’s license. In court, she expressed remorse, stating through tears that she wished she had died instead of the victims. But for the families of Ferrante and Catronio, the pain remained unsoothed. The courtroom was filled with anguished weeping and photographs of the vibrant young women whose lives had been stolen.

The public outcry over the crash lingered for years. The families of the victims launched the “Wrong Way Awareness Project,” a nonprofit dedicated to preventing wrong-way crashes. Their activism prompted local lawmakers to review highway signage, lighting, and implement wrong-way sensors on entrance ramps across Broward County. Meanwhile, Mendoza became a cautionary tale in driver’s education programs and victim impact panels across the country.

Today, Kayla Maria Mendoza remains incarcerated in a Florida state prison, serving her sentence with no possibility of early release until the year 2037. There have been no publicized rehabilitation efforts on her part beyond her court-mandated programs, and she has kept a low profile behind bars. Her case remains a topic of interest in criminal justice and media studies programs, particularly due to the interplay between digital recklessness and real-world consequences.

In conclusion, the story of Kayla Maria Mendoza serves as a grim parable about the dangers of alcohol, social media narcissism, and impulsive behavior. The devastating impact of one night’s decision shattered families, inspired activism, and forced legislative change. It reminds us that a single act—however spontaneous—can reverberate across decades.

Collectors of true crime memorabilia and cultural artifacts may find value in items connected to Kayla Maria Mendoza, particularly anything autographed, due to the rarity of such items and the notoriety of her case. While morally controversial, such artifacts can command significant interest within the crime memorabilia market because of the story they symbolize—a moment when a tweet became a tombstone.

VIDEO: Exclusive: Accused Wrong Way Driver Addresses Victim’s Families In Video Deposition | https://youtu.be/EdG-S35ZxE4

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