The 33-year-old woman who was killed Friday night on the Florida Turnpike in Sumter County was a Tallahassee teacher on her way to watch her brother run in a half marathon at Disney.
Erika Kubik was driving a 2005 Honda Accord at 8:10 p.m. near Mile Marker 302 when for unknown reasons, her vehicle traveled into the center median of the roadway, according to a report from the Florida Highway Patrol. It then collided with a guardrail.
Kubik suffered fatal injuries and died at the scene of the crash, the FHP report indicated.
She had been on her way to watch her brother Johnathan run in Disney’s Wine and Dine half marathon, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.
Pat Gleason, Kubik’s mother, is one of the state’s experts on Florida public records and special counsel for open government in Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office. Kubik’s father, a Tallahassee attorney, died in 1997, the Democrat reported.
“Her loss is heartbreaking, and we will continue to keep Pat and her family in our thoughts and prayers,” Bondi said in a statement.
Kubik was also active as a lay leader at Good Shepherd Catholic Church and was a member of Phi Mu sorority. She graduated from Maclay School in 1999 and earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from FSU in 2003. She taught in Orlando for seven years before returning to her hometown three years ago to teach at Florida High and pursue a master’s degree in public administration. She would have graduated in the spring.
