Jakob Lloyd, 19, was on his way to the University of Central Florida for freshman orientation with his father Shane Lloyd, 50, when the father and son were struck in their car Leslie Gehret, 40, who allegedly ran a red light and plowed into their vehicle while drunk. Gehret has a history of DUI charges.
That occurred on Sunday, the 9th of July at around 1 pm, when Jakob and Shane, from Colorado, were making their way to the university’s campus in their Kia. Then they were crashing into by Gehret in a white Jeep, sending their car tumbling down the road like a kicked can.
A witness to the accident, Chase Woodburn, described the horrific incident, saying, “It rolled about three-and-a-half times. It ended up on the roof of the car. I immediately put the car in park and ran there, and my fiancée called 911.”
He added that as he and others rushed to the aid of the Lloyds, Gehret sat in her car “in complete shock,” remaining silent and seated while others tried to rescue her victims. He said, “She was in complete shock. She was sitting in the car with her hands on the wheel just kind of looking side to side.”
After the tragic accident, Gehret was taken to the hospital and interviewed by law enforcement officers, They observed her as having red and bloodshot eyes, having the odor of alcohol emanating from her face, and speaking with a thick tongue, all signs of drunkenness. Gehret didn’t voluntarily give a blood sample to the law enforcement officers to test for alcohol, so a judge had to sign an emergency search warrant to allow them to test her blood.
Gehret’s bond was set at over $700,000 and she now faces both her third DUI charge and two counts of homicide and manslaughter for the killings of Jakob and Shane Lloyd. Her license was suspended for DUIs as of the time of the accident. She has since been transported to the Orange County Jail.
Shane Lloyd’s sister, Shannon, said that Shane was a “hero” and her nephew Jakob had his whole life in front of him, something he was ready to start at the university. “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,” she said “They were just down there to get him ready to start, to start his life and his career,” she said.
But then that was snuffed out by a scumbag who was known as a drunk driver, had been convicted of drunk driving twice before, and still drunk drove again and killed a father and son. In her words: “The third time, and this time she killed two innocent people. I hope that lawmakers pay attention to this kind of thing, there’s no excuse for it. She’ll 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.”
Featured image credit: Orange County Sheriff’s Office
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