Bushnell,FL : Wildwood student dies in vehicle crash on August, Thursday 31th 2017

A thirteen-year-old Wildwood Middle High School student died Thursday, Aug. 31, in a Marion County crash that also claimed the life of a Lady Lake man.

Taquoia Schroeder was a passenger in one of three vehicles involved in the collision about 9:20 p.m., according to a Florida Highway Patrol report. She was not wearing a seatbelt and, according to local media accounts, was apparently thrown from the car in which she was riding after it struck a pickup truck.

John Ballard, 28, Lady Lake, was identified by the FHP as the other fatality in the crash. Both he and Schroeder died at the scene.

Ballard was traveling west in the eastbound lane of C.R. 484 in a 2000 Nissan Frontier, according to an FHP report. Schroeder was a passenger in a 2012 Chevrolet Sonic, driven by Kalisha Felice Jones, 39, Leesburg. It was traveling east when it was struck on the left side by the Nissan.

After the vehicles collided, the Jones car traveled on to the south grass shoulder and began overturning, ejecting a passenger, according to the FHP. The Nissan continued westerly, out of control, and began overturning, striking the front of an eastbound 2013 Nissan Altima driven by Devon C. Phillip, 25, Dunnellon.

After the second collision, the pickup truck traveled off the roadway and overturned on the south grass shoulder, the report stated. The Altima came to rest, facing south, in the eastbound lane.

Jones was transported to UF Health Shands in Gainesville with serious injuries and Phillip was transported to Ocala Regional Medical Center with minor injuries, according to the FHP report.

Andre Mobley, 10, Leesburg, a second passenger in Jones’ car, received minor injuries. He was the only person listed in the FHP report as wearing a seatbelt/restraint.

While some sources initially reported that the teen was a Wildwood resident, official FHP bulletins listed her as a Leesburg resident. Wildwood Middle High School Principal Richard Hampton last week confirmed that the girl was a student there.

Word of the teen’s death spread rapidly on social media and through the school where Taquoia was an eighth-grade student. She was active in clubs and sports, said Hampton. “She was well known and loved by the students.”

The loss was announced Friday morning at the school and many students and staff in the tight-knit school were saddened by the news, he said. “It’s tragic – we’ve lost part of our family and it’s hard. It’s just tough.”


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Wildwood student dies in vehicle crash