The Florida Highway Patrol homicide unit is investigating a fatal crash involving three young adults on Interstate 75 in Lee County on April 18.
A 24-year-old Lehigh Acres man was killed in the crash after being catapulted from his automobile and colliding with another. Two North Fort Myers men, the driver, 21, and the passenger, 23, of the other automobile involved, sustained minor injuries.
Both cars were in the left lane of 1-75 near mile marker 131 in Daniels Parkay. They were traveling north at a “high rate of speed” around 1:46 p.m., according to FHP.
The first vehicle, a 2023 Hyundai Sonata driven by a 21-year-old North Fort Myers man, was ahead of a 2012 Nissan Maxima driven by the Lehigh guy who died.
Both cars shifted lanes to the center, where traffic was slower, and the first car passed in the outside lane, while the second passed on the left.
When they got past the slower traffic, both tried to move to the middle lane and collided.
The front left of the Hyundai, carrying the North Fort Myers males, collided with the front right of the Nissan, driven by the Lehigh man, and both automobiles drove across the outer lane and onto the shoulder. The Lehigh Acres man’s automobile collided with a concrete barrier while driving north. Both drivers drove to the left, crossing the outer lane; the Lehigh man’s automobile flipped, ejecting him and colliding with the 21-year-old North Fort Myers man’s car, which was inhabited by the 23-year-old.
The first car, the Hyundai carrying the survivors, came to a halt facing northwest in the center lane; the other was upright in the inner lane and shoulder.
Lee County EMS declared the Lehigh Acres man deceased on the scene.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, 37 individuals have died in Lee County crashes thus far in 2025. In Collier, nine people have died.
In 2024, 196 people died across the two counties combined.
