Florida Woman Accused of Day Drinking, Killing Father, Son Attending College Orientation — ‘Like a Double Whammy’

A woman in with multiple DUIs was arrested after she killed a father and son from Colorado who were attending a college orientation together in Orlando, Florida, authorities said.

Leslie Gehmert, 40, is accused of running a red light while intoxicated behind the wheel of a Jeep around 1 p.m. on July 9 and hitting the Kia containing the victims, Shane Lloyd, 50, and his son, Jakob Lloyd, 19, WOFL reported, citing the Florida Highway Patrol.

The father, an electrical engineer, and his son, who was interested in forensics and law, had the right of way and were turning left when Gehmert hit their vehicle, which then rolled multiple times and came to a stop on its roof, a witness said.

Jakob Lloyd was about to begin his freshman year at the University of Central Florida and was in the Sunshine State with his father for his freshman orientation.

“My brother was my hero, so for this to be like a double whammy for our family, it’s hard to take all this in,” Shane Lloyd’s sister, Shannon Brown, told WOFL. “They were just down there to get [Jakob] ready to start. To start his life and his career.”

Chase Woodburn witnessed the crash and claimed Gehmert was “in complete shock” and “was sitting in the car with her hands on the wheel just kind of looking side to side.”

Gehmert currently faces two counts of homicide and two counts of manslaughter.

According to prosecutors, the incident was Gehmert’s third alleged DUI and she was driving on a suspended license.

She was being held in lieu of a $700,000 bond.

"The third time, and this time she killed two innocent people,” Brown said. “I hope that lawmakers pay attention to this kind of thing, there’s no excuse for it."

She added of her nephew, “He was really going to make a difference, but that’s gone now.”