Wildwood residents were in shock Friday night after hearing about the deaths of two local teenagers in a crash on State Road 44 in Sumter County.
Jared Cleve Corbin Jr., 18, who was known throughout the community as Fred, and 15-year-old Julian Tyrel Patterson were pronounced dead at the scene of the Friday afternoon crash west of County Road 44A. Corbin graduated from Wildwood Middle High School last year and played on the school’s football team.
The Rev. Derrel Strickland, of Oxford Assembly of God Church, spoke fondly of Corbin Friday night.
“Everybody in Wildwood knew Fred,” Strickland said before heading over to the football game between WMHS and The Villages High School. “We’re a tight-knit community and I’m already hearing from people who have been shocked by the news.”
Strickland, the former announcer for Wildwood football games who currently is running for a seat on the Wildwood Commission, said Corbin was a popular member of the team.
“He was well-liked, a real good kid,” he said. “He was much smaller than most of the others on the team. He played cornerback and receiver. And he did well on special teams.”
Corbin’s family members and friends also were in mourning Friday. His cousin, Garrion, a former cornerback for the Wildcats from Coleman, changed his Facebook photos to show the two of them together in tuxedos. The freshman linebacker for ASA College in Miami also posted several photos of his cousin and messages of sorrow on his Facebook page.
“No words can explain my love for my favorite cousin,” one message read in part, adding, “Heaven gained another angel today. Long live Fred.”
Another of his Facebook posts showed the two together with a small dog with a caption that read in part: “My heart is torn to shreds… I can’t do this man.”
Strickland responded to Garrion’s post with a message that read: “Hang in there Garrion. Praying.” And several other friends also offered personal messages and words of sorrow.
Another Facebook friend, Weaver LaFlare, who graduated from Wildwood High School in 2006, changed his profile picture to one showing Corbin wearing a pink Nike shirt. Friends of his, in turn, expressed their condolences through Facebook posts on his page.
A Florida Highway Patrol report says that Corbin was at the wheel when the crash occurred Friday. He apparently lost control of the vehicle on the wet roadway and his car collided with a culvert and went airborne before striking a powerline and crashing into two trees.
No other information about Patterson was available Friday night. His Facebook page was private, with only one photo of the 15-year-old showing.
