A 16-year-old girl has died after falling roughly 29 feet through a hole in the roof of an abandoned four-story building in Sebastian, according to investigators. Deputies and fire rescue crews responded to the structure at 9846 Riverside Preserve Drive last Saturday after a 911 caller reported that a teenage girl had fallen from a concrete structure and suffered critical injuries.
According to WPBF, investigators say the teen was part of a group of juveniles who had trespassed onto the abandoned property and climbed onto its roof. First responders arrived to find the group along with the injured girl on the second floor of the building, where she had landed after falling through the hole. The Indian River County Sheriff's Office said evidence indicates the fall was accidental.
One member of the group performed CPR on the teen before rescue crews arrived, per the sheriff's office. Because Indian River County does not maintain its own Level II trauma center or a county-operated air ambulance, the girl was airlifted to Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne — the only state-accredited Level II Trauma Center serving both Brevard and Indian River counties, according to Health First. She died there from her injuries.
How the Medevac Response Unfolded
The airlift relied on inter-county medical agreements, since Indian River County has no public aeromedical program of its own. Health First's First Flight helicopter service, which added a second helicopter in March 2025, covers emergency calls across Brevard and northern Indian River counties, according to Vero News. That arrangement is what put the critically injured teen on a path to Melbourne rather than a hospital closer to Sebastian.
The Indian River County Sheriff's Office has not released the victim's name. Its Criminal Investigations Division is investigating the incident, and the agency said in a statement, “We extend our deepest sympathies to the family during this difficult time.”
Sheriff's Office Warns of Trespassing Risks
Beyond extending condolences, the sheriff's office used the tragedy to remind residents about both the physical dangers and legal consequences of entering abandoned buildings. Under Section 810.08 of the Florida Statutes, entering or remaining in a structure without authorization is a second-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine, according to Ilabaca Law. Penalties can escalate to a third-degree felony carrying up to five years in prison if trespassers carry weapons or enter posted critical infrastructure or construction sites, the same source notes.
Property owners are not immune from scrutiny in cases like this one. Florida common law enforces the attractive nuisance doctrine, which can hold property owners liable when dangerous artificial conditions — such as an unsecured, abandoned building — foreseeably lure minors who lack the maturity to grasp the risks, according to the injury law firm Abrahamson & Uiterwyk. Whether that doctrine applies here remains an open question, and the ownership history of the Riverside Preserve Drive property, along with whether county code enforcement had previously cited the building for open-structure violations, has not been publicly established.
A County Dotted With Abandoned Structures
Indian River County contains a substantial stock of abandoned industrial and agricultural real estate, including roughly 27,000 acres of disused grove land and former citrus packing houses left behind by decades of crop decline, per Vero News reporting from 2020. Those vacant structures, including concrete buildings similar to the one in Sebastian, can pose long-term maintenance and safety challenges for local government. Under Chapter 973 of the county's zoning ordinance, authorities can order property owners to abate dangerous building nuisances and, in serious cases, authorize county personnel to enter private land to address public safety threats, according to Zoneomics.
The Indian River County Sheriff's Office, which is investigating the fall, is led by Sheriff Eric Flowers, who was re-elected in 2024 and was sworn in as chairman of the Florida Sheriffs Association board of directors in July. It is not the department's first encounter with a structural fall incident in Sebastian: in November 2025, deputies and SWAT units responded to a standoff in which a suspect fleeing law enforcement crashed through the interior ceiling of a building and fell into a living room below.
The sheriff's office also maintains youth outreach programs in the area, including the IRCSO Explorers Post 556 training program and a specialized patrol vehicle partnership with Sebastian River High School, reflecting ongoing efforts to build relationships with local teenagers. Whether any criminal trespassing charges or civil claims will follow this investigation remains unresolved as the Criminal Investigations Division continues its work.
