A Florida woman caught driving 120 mph on Interstate 95 told a state trooper she was speeding because one of her passengers was late for court.
Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Rickie R. Zigler was monitoring northbound traffic in Volusia County on October 29, 2026, when he spotted a black 2025 Toyota RAV4 rental traveling in the left lane. He initially estimated its speed at 130 mph, confirmed 120 mph with radar, and accelerated his patrol car to 131 mph to catch up.
The driver, 22-year-old Medjine Carmelie Francois, pulled onto the left median shoulder after Zigler activated his emergency lights and siren. As he approached, he noticed she was sitting on top of her buckled seat belt rather than wearing it across her body. The trooper directed her out of the SUV, which carried two male passengers, and detained her in his patrol car.
Francois explained that she was trying to get one of the men to court because he was running late. Court records show that 22-year-old passenger Keyshawn Charles Bennett had a hearing scheduled for 1:30 p.m., just seven minutes after Zigler first spotted the SUV.
A Loaded Rifle Inside the Rental Toyota
According to the FHP arrest report, Zigler detected a strong odor of burnt marijuana while standing beside the RAV4’s open driver’s door. With Francois detained in his patrol car and two passengers still inside the Toyota, he began asking about weapons.
Francois told him there was a weapon beneath the driver’s seat. When the trooper questioned the passengers, however, both directed him toward the rear cargo area.
There, Zigler found a semiautomatic rifle within reach of the two men. The weapon contained a loaded 30-round magazine with .223-caliber ammunition.
A check of the firearm came back clear, and Francois had a valid Florida driver’s license. The records check on Bennett produced a different result: two outstanding felony warrants for failing to appear in court.
Those warrants were connected to the very case that had brought Bennett back before a judge that afternoon.
Passenger’s Earlier Weapons Case
Bennett’s legal troubles began with a February 14, 2025, arrest at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, where campus security had received reports, photographs and videos of firearms inside a student residence.
Daytona Beach police responded to the residence, where Bennett was carrying a small black bag. He initially refused to put it down when security personnel instructed him to do so.
Officers recovered a Glock handgun with an extended magazine from the bag. A search of the room uncovered another handgun in a drawer and two Glock cases inside an open duffel bag.
Bennett told investigators both handguns belonged to him and that he had brought them onto campus for personal safety. He explained that he left one in the room because he preferred not to carry both weapons.
He was arrested on two counts of possessing a weapon on school property, with bond initially set at $5,000 per charge. Court records show he entered a plea in September 2025 and received probation, followed by probation-violation proceedings in August 2026.
By October 29, Bennett had two outstanding felony failure-to-appear warrants in that case. Troopers arrested him during the I-95 stop, while Francois was taken into custody under Florida’s excessive-speed law.
The third passenger was not arrested. Troopers transported him to a nearby highway exit and released him, while Francois and Bennett were taken to the Volusia County Jail.
The rented RAV4 was towed from the interstate, and the rifle was taken into FHP custody for safekeeping. No new firearms charge appears in either person’s October 29 booking record.
Francois was booked on a charge of operating a vehicle at least 50 mph over the speed limit, with a $500 bond. Bennett was booked on two felony failure-to-appear counts without bond.
All parties are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
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