Jacksonville Soccer Player Killed During a Rollover Accident in Baker County

Family, friends, and faculty members at Jacksonville University are in mourning this week as they struggle to deal with the death of an 18-year-old student and standout soccer player who was killed during an auto accident on U.S. Highway 90 near I-10 in Baker County.

According to preliminary incident reports from troopers with the Florida Highway Patrol, it was close to 3:40 p.m. on Sunday, April 10, 2022, when 8 women from the Jacksonville University soccer team were heading home in an SUV on U.S. 90 after a weekend tubing trip. As the SUV continued its trip in the eastbound direction of the highway heading toward I-10, something caused the 20-year-old driver from South Carolina to lose control of the vehicle and veer over onto the shoulder of the road. In an attempt to pull the SUV back onto the highway, the young driver mistakenly overcorrected the steering wheel. Once the SUV was finally off of the shoulder and back on the concrete roadway, the driver once again overcorrected which then caused the vehicle to spin out of control before rolling over and landing on the passenger side along the southbound shoulder of the highway.

Several Baker County emergency response teams, as well as officers with the Florida Highway Patrol, arrived at the scene of the rollover accident within a matter of minutes and quickly discovered multiple team members suffering from a variety of injuries. Stephanie Davis, an 18-year-old St. Cloud resident and first-year student at Jacksonville University, was immediately transported to the Lake City Medical Center where she sadly passed away due to her life-threatening injuries. The rest of the SUV’s passengers, ranging in age from 18-21, received minor injuries during the incident and were treated at local hospitals. It is unclear if the 20-year-old driver was injured.

“Our campus community is devastated by this heartbreaking news. Jacksonville University leaders are in touch with the families of all students involved and are offering our full support to them and to the team, as well as counseling services to any students, faculty, and staff who knew Stephanie,” said a representative from the college in a statement to the press.

James O. Cunningham

Since 1977, personal injury lawyer James Cunningham has provided effective legal advocacy to people who are injured through the negligent actions of another person or entity throughout the Central Florida area. He fights to obtain recoveries for his clients’ physical and emotional pain and suffering and pursues his clients’ personal injury cases with a commitment to excellence and impeccable preparation.