Two Ocala women were killed in a crash Monday afternoon on Interstate 75 in Marion County.
Monique Morrell, 28, was pronounced dead at the scene by Ocala Fire Rescue personnel shortly after the multi-vehicle accident at Mile Marker 349. Her 22-year-old passenger also was killed in the crash that occurred about 1 p.m. and involved two semi-trucks, a small SUV and a sedan, a Florida Highway Patrol report states. The passenger’s name is being withheld pending notification of the next of kin.
The crash occurred when Morrell, driving a 2004 Volkswagen Jetta, was entering I-75 from a northbound ramp and was traveling in the outside lane. Her vehicle moved into the center lane in the path of a 2016 Peterbilt semi-truck driven by 45-year-old Martezi Besim, of Slinger, Wisc. Besim veered to the left to avoid the collision, but Morrell’s Jetta collided with the front of the semi, which then rotated in a clockwise direction and hit the left front of a 2018 Nissan Rogue driven by 52-year-old Maurice Jeantroux of Crecy-la-Chapelle, France, the FHP report says.
Morrell’s vehicle continued to rotate and then was hit from behind by a 2001 Mack semi-truck driven by 43-year-old Bobby Ray Daves, of Ocala, before coming to rest across the northbound lanes.
Neither Besim, Jeantroux nor Daves were injured in the crash. Jeantroux’s passengers – 48-year-old Beatrice, 16-year-old Vladimire and 11-year-old Maxime, all of Crecy-la-Chapelle, France – also escaped injury.
The crash is still under investigation and charges are pending, the FHP report says, adding that it also hasn’t been determined if alcohol was a factor in the incident.
