LAKELAND, Fla. — Four people were killed in a crash Tuesday in Lakeland.
- 4 killed in head-on crash
- Crash on east Memorial Blvd near Holly Road
- Roadway expected to be closed for several hours
According to Lakeland police, the three-vehicle crash happened near the 1700 block of east Memorial Boulevard just before noon.
Officers said the crash happened as one vehicle carrying four people crossed the yellow line and struck a truck hauling an empty horse trailer head-on. The four people in the vehicle were killed upon impact, authorities said.
"Absolute Shock"
Lakeland Police identified those four people as driver William McClelland, 50; McClelland's girlfriend, Lisa Vorholzer; McClelland's stepfather, Ernest Manley, 88; and Manley's daughter, Linda Henson.
McClelland and Vorholzer were Manley's caregivers. Someone close to the family told us that the group was on its way to Lakeland to pick up medication for Manley when the crash occurred.
A neighbor of Manley's, David Hammock, described Manley as "wonderful" and "kind," and said he was devastated when he saw the accident on the news.
"[Manley] has been my neighbor for about 25 years," Hammock said. "Wonderful man. Kind. Just good with everybody."
"Absolute shock," he continued. "Absolute shock, and for his daughter to visit, who had not visited in quite some time to be in the car and the other two in the car is just absolute shock."
Hammock explained that Henson was visiting her father from South Carolina.
"There’s not words to describe what really how good of people they were, all of them," Hammock said. "And how Billy took care of Ernie. It was great. It really was. They’re going to be sadly missed."
No other non-life-threatening injuries
Another vehicle also was involved in the crash. The driver of that vehicle was not transported to a hospital.
The driver and passengers in the truck hauling the horse trailer were transported to Lakeland Regional Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Traffic was blocked in both directions and police asked drivers to avoid east and westbound Memorial near Holly Road as the police investigation was ongoing.