More than 34,000 people are killed every year in transportation-related accidents, millions injured. Vehicles are lethal weapons, drive responsibly, obey the traffic laws and traffic signs.
Kristine Gill, Alexi C. Cardona
11:00 PM, Sep 8, 2015
Alexi C. Cardona
For Larry Wilcoxson, this college football season will be a sad one without Alex Garcia around to fight over who is the best team.
For Wilcoxson, a Florida State University graduate, it was the Seminoles. For Garcia, it was the University of Miami Hurricanes.
“He was a big UM fan. I’d never root for a Hurricane, but I put the U up for Alex,” Wilcoxson said, making the “U” hand gesture. “This is going to be a sad year.”
The two have been friends for about 20 years, bonding over sports, especially football and basketball.
“The guy could shoot,” Wilcoxson, 37, of Immokalee, said. “I would always tell him that I was the better basketball player, but he really could shoot.”
Two fatal accidents claimed the lives of five people during the holiday weekend. On Tuesday evening, about 80 family members, friends and acquaintances gathered near State Road 82 and Corkscrew Road to mourn the deaths.
They held up signs that read “No more lives to SR-82,” “Pass with care,” “Slow down” and “Obey the speed limit.” They cried, hugged and shared stories of other family members and friends involved in accidents on that road. They held hands in a circle and said a prayer.
Garcia was among three people killed in a crash near State Road 82 and Corkscrew Road over the weekend.
According to reports, a Fort Myers man driving a 2015 Chevy Impala westbound along State Road 82 entered the eastbound lane of State Road 82, traveling west in front of Garcia’s 2012 Nissan Altima. The front left side of the Impala struck the front left side of the Altima.
The Fort Myers man, whose name is being withheld because his next-of-kin have not yet been notified, was also killed. The third victim was Garcia’s 5-year-old daughter, Alexis Garcia. Garcia’s fiancee, Jenny Anzualda Garza, is in critical condition at Lee Memorial Hospital. Their 10-year-old son, Jeremiah Garcia, is in critical condition at Tampa General Hospital.
The couple have been engaged since February 2013. “He loved and worshipped the ground she walked on,” Wilcoxson said.
Sandy Torres, a cousin of Garza’s, couldn’t sleep after hearing about the accident.
“I kept hugging my 4-year-old,” Torres, 35, of Lehigh Acres, said. “When things like this happen, it makes you second-guess yourself. The little things. The goodbyes to your husband. As a mother and a wife, my heart hurts for her.”
The people who gathered near the crash site were there, in part, because they want the county to pay attention to the fatalities on State Road 82.
“This road is dangerous,” said Manny Reina, 33, a distant relative of Garcia’s. “If losing a 5-year-old child, a father, and having the mother and 10-year-old son in critical condition isn’t a sign that the county needs to do something, I don’t know what is.”
Enrique Midney of Immokalee started an online petition that calls for Gov. Rick Scott to look into the aggressive driving, speeding, and lack of lighting along the road that makes it so dangerous. Midney calls for increased patrols to encourage safe driving.
“I’ve seen my fair share of accidents and I’ve lost a couple friends,” he said. “And it’s just a dangerous road and it’s been overlooked for so long.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, the petition had garnered more than 2,000 supporters. The goal was to hit 2,500.
Carlos Gutierrez, a 2016 candidate for Collier County Sheriff, started a GoFundMe page to help the family with medical and burial expenses. More than $2,600 was raised in 11 hours. The goal is $20,000.
The other crash involved a 48-year-old Nokomis man and his passenger, who were killed Sunday night in a motorcycle crash in Lehigh Acres.
Jack Laroy Linn was riding his Honda VTX 1800 when he and a passenger, Estero resident Jennifer Lynn Chrisman, 43, were killed when the motorcycle crashed at 9:15 p.m. at State Road 82 and Alabama Road, the Florida Highway Patrol reports.
The motorcycle was southbound on Alabama Road when Linn failed to observe the stop sign in time at the intersection with State Road 82. The motorcycle slid on its right side into the intersection, ejecting both riders, who were struck by a sport utility vehicle eastbound on State Road 82, reports show.
The Chevrolet Tahoe SUV was driven by Elizabeth Diaz Conde, 47, of Davie. Neither Conde nor her 9-year-old passenger were injured in the crash.
More than 34,000 people are killed every year in transportation-related accidents, millions injured. Vehicles are lethal weapons, drive responsibly, obey the traffic laws and traffic signs.