Orlando, Florida: Three Siblings Among Six Killed in Florida Turnpike Crash as Five Victims Are Named

Five of the six people killed in a fiery crash on Florida's Turnpike in Orange County have been identified, and three of them were adult siblings. The District Nine Medical Examiner's Office confirmed to PEOPLE that Timothy Williams, Shawn Palmer, Charles Milton, Jakara Milton and Dalvena Green died in the crash. One person remains unidentified, and the cause of death is still pending.

The crash happened at about 9:31 p.m. on Oct. 23 in the northbound lanes near mile marker 252, near Weatherby Road in south Orange County, according to the Florida Highway Patrol and WKMG. Troopers said a Road Ranger service truck had been parked in the median, emergency lights on, after an earlier incident. The driver was then sent across the northbound lanes to help a disabled box truck on the outside shoulder. A 2023 Chevrolet Traverse traveling north in the inside lane struck the right rear of the truck with its front left side. Both vehicles left the roadway and caught fire, and the Traverse driver and five passengers were trapped inside and pronounced dead at the scene. The Road Ranger driver, a 28-year-old man from Kissimmee, had minor injuries and was not taken to a hospital. The northbound turnpike was blocked overnight.

A family loses three children

Marshall Clarke-Milton and her husband, Charles Milton Sr., told FOX 35 Orlando that the six people in the SUV were their three children, two of their children's partners and a friend, headed to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Orlando. Clarke-Milton said she called officials after hearing about the crash. "Once I gave them the names, the young lady told me, yes, we have two of them currently. So, my heart sank. Because somehow I knew it was them, but I didn't want it to be them," she said. The parents said they are now focused on raising their granddaughter. "Everything is for her," Clarke-Milton said.

Family asks investigators to finish before assigning fault

Witnesses told troopers the Traverse was traveling at a high rate of speed with its headlights off, the Highway Patrol said. Troopers have not announced a cause, and those witness accounts are not findings. Clarke-Milton asked investigators to finish their work before describing the people in the SUV as at fault, and pointed to the vehicle data that records speed and headlight use in a crash. "You have to check before you say this person was at fault," she said. The Highway Patrol told FOX 35 its investigation remains open, with a crash report expected within 10 days of the crash.

Federal safety board will investigate

The National Transportation Safety Board confirmed to FOX 35 that it will open an investigation. Its safety issues include the training and performance of the roadside assistance driver, the actions of the SUV driver, including speed, and restraint use by the people in the SUV.

Road Rangers are the roadside service patrols that work Florida's toll roads and interstates. Their drivers change tires, jump-start vehicles, clear debris and set up traffic control at crash scenes, work that routinely places them beside live traffic.

The turnpike crash was one of two fatal crashes in Orange County that night. At about 11:15 p.m. on Oct. 23, a four-vehicle crash on State Road 429 near mile marker 24 killed an 18-year-old Apopka man riding in a Hyundai Sonata, troopers said. Six people were taken to hospitals from that crash, including two teenage girls who were seriously hurt. The two investigations are separate.