$6 Million Verdict for Widow of Construction Worker Killed by Metromover Train

On the night of February 8, 2017, Oscar Antonio Cabrera, 43, was elevated in a boom lift near the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. Metromover station in downtown Miami. He and a coworker were part of a subcontracted crew building what would become the Brightline passenger terminal, working at height when a remotely operated Metromover train came through and struck the lift.

The collision threw both men from the basket. Cabrera fell to the ground and died from his injuries at Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center. His coworker, who was wearing a safety harness, survived after dangling from a ledge until fellow workers helped him down. According to his widow, Cabrera was diligent about safety protocols throughout his roughly two-decade career in construction.

Rubenstein Law attorneys Gregory Deutch and Raul Garcia Jr. brought a wrongful death action against Miami-Dade County, the operator of the Metromover system. The case turned on coordination failures between the on-site safety monitor and the remote Metromover command center. The firm argued that the County was required to confirm no trains were operating within a defined clearance of active construction work, and that those protocols were not followed on the night Cabrera was killed.

Nearly nine years after the incident, a Miami-Dade jury returned a $6 million verdict in November 2025 for Cabrera's widow, Stephanie Bravo Cabrera, finding Miami-Dade County 70 percent at fault for his death. Claims against other defendants, including Brightline and two construction companies, were resolved before trial.