The woman who died in a fiery car crash between an SUV and her Tesla in North Miami Beach last Wednesday has been identified by the synagogue she attended and her employer.
Julie Eibinder, 24, was driving her Tesla sedan westbound on Northwest 163rd Street, between 29th and 34th avenues around 4 p.m. Wednesday afternoon when she was cut off by the SUV driver, according to North Miami Beach police. She crashed into a utility pole and her car went up in flames, trapping her inside, police said.
Officers could not pry the Tesla driver out of the car before it became fully engulfed in flames, police said.
The Chabad Russian Center, a synagogue in Sunny Isles, confirmed Eibinder was the Tesla driver.
“Julie has been a family member of our community since her childhood and the pain of this loss is unfathonable,” the center said in a statement on Instagram. “At this time the family is requesting privacy while they gather their bearings.”
Eibinder worked at a Jewish Community Center
The Miami Beach Jewish Community Center, where Eibinder worked as a membership coordinator since 2024, also confirmed her death in a Facebook post Sunday.
“Her sudden loss is devastating, We extend our deepest condolences and prayers to Julie’s family, her loved ones, and all those who knew and cherished her,” the JCC said in a statement. “We also hold one another close as a community now mourning together. May we find strength in our shared memories, comfort in our connections, and healing in the love that we extend to one another.”
Local 10, which was first to identify Eibinder, reported she was on her way to a friend’s house to have a meal before fasting for Yom Kippur.
The station also reported that Eibinder’s mother works as a preschool teacher at the Chabad Russian Center.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue took the driver of the SUV to the hospital. As of Monday evening, police have not released that person’s condition nor whether he or she will be charged.
The Chabad Russian Center has established a fundraiser for Eibinder’s family in her memory.