Repeated DUI Florida Offender Killed USF Student on Her Way Home From a Wedding

A Florida man is accused of driving drunk and the wrong way on Interstate 75 and is now facing DUI manslaughter charges. He reportedly caused the accident that killed a University of South Florida student heading home from a wedding earlier this month.

Dennis Lee Olson, 53, of Lehigh Acres, was arrested after the May 17 crash in Charlotte County that killed 21-year-old Lauryn Akey. It also seriously hurt three others, according to authorities. Olson remained in jail without bond after a judge ruled he should stay behind bars while prosecutors review possible additional charges.

Investigators said traffic cameras captured Olson’s Ford F-150 making an improper U-turn into the northbound lanes of I-75 shortly after 1 a.m. The truck then slammed into two vehicles traveling in the opposite direction.

According to officials, Olson’s blood alcohol content measured .222, which is nearly three times Florida’s legal limit. Court records cited by local media show Olson was earlier convicted of impaired driving in Minnesota in 2019 and sentenced to two years of probation.

Olson allegedly told officers he had been returning from “Sip & Sizzle” in Fort Myers and was having a “bad” night before the crash.

The 21-year-old victim was an Illinois native who was driving home from a wedding when the collision happened. Minutes before the crash, she texted family members to say she had stopped for gas and loved them, according to reports.

Her death stunned family and friends who described her as driven and caring. Akey was preparing to enter her senior year at USF, where she studied exercise science and held a 4.0 GPA. Her family said she hoped to become a nurse after graduation.

“She would have done amazing things,” her mother, Melinda Mucho, told FOX 13. “Her life was just on the horizon; her life was just getting started with her boyfriend. She was going to graduate next year, and I want everyone to see her and feel that.”

The driver of the second vehicle involved in the crash suffered serious injuries along with two passengers, ages 12 and 15.

Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Ken Watson said the crash could have been prevented if better choices had been made before Olson got behind the wheel.

“By planning ahead, this tragedy could have most certainly been avoided,” Watson told FOX 13. “Now, we have several families who have been destroyed, including the driver himself, who is now looking at several years behind bars.”

Olson is scheduled to appear in court on June 15, according to court records.