Leslie Gehret (right) is accused of crashing into and killing Shane Lloyd (left) and his son Jakob Lloyd (middle) (Pictures: Orange County Sheriff’s Office/WESH 2)
A son and his father who were heading to his college freshman orientation were killed after a third-time drunk driver allegedly crashed into their car.
Jakob Lloyd’s dad Shane Lloyd, 50, was driving them from their home in Colorado to the University of Central Florida around 1pm on Sunday when they were struck at the intersection of Lake Underhill and Rouse roads.
‘It is with great sadness to inform you of the passing of Jakob Lloyd (aka Shorts) and his father Shane Lloyd,’ tweeted the Fossil Ridge High School football team on Monday.
‘They were involved in a vehicle accident in Florida… The Lloyd family is devastated.’
The deadly crash occurred on Sunday afternoon in Florida (Picture: WESH 2)
Leslie Gehret, 40, ran a red light and crashed into the father and son’s vehicle, said the Florida Highway Patrol. It was Gehret’s third DUI, highway patrol investigators told FOX 35.
‘The third time, and this time she killed two innocent people,’ Shane’s sister Shannon Brown told the TV station.
‘My brother was my hero, so for this to be like a double whammy for our family, it’s hard to take all this in.
‘They were just down there to get him ready to start. To start his life and his career.’
Shane Lloyd (left) was driving his son Jakob Lloyd (right) to his freshmen orientation at the University of Central Florida (Picture: WESH 2)
A witness at the crash scene, Chase Woodburn, told the news outlet that the Lloyds’ vehicle ‘rolled about three-and-a-half times’ and wound up with its roof to the ground.
Woodburn said he and other good Samaritans ran to help and called 911.
Gehret ‘was in complete shock’, Woodburn said. ‘She was sitting in the car with her hands on the wheel just kind of looking side to side.’
A judge presiding over Gehret’s first court appearance stated, ‘It’s two counts of homicide and two counts of manslaughter’, according to FOX 35.
Leslie Gehret faces homicide charges in the deaths of Jakob and Shane Lloyd (Picture: Orange County Sheriff’s Office)
Gehret’s driver’s license had been suspended prior to the crash. She faces homicide charges in the father and son’s deaths and her bond was set at over $700,000.
Brown said the family seeks justice, but also that Gehret will ‘be forgiven and her family will be in our prayers too, because like I said it’s not just our family that’s hurting, her family’s gonna hurt too’.
Shane worked as an electrical engineer and his son aspired to be a lawyer.
‘He was really going to make a difference,’ Brown said, ‘But that’s gone now.’
A Meal Train fundraiser for the father and son had raised more than $9,600 as of Wednesday evening.
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‘The third time, and this time she killed two innocent people.’
