Three killed in Monroe County accident on I-75

Two adults and a child were killed in a head-on collision in Monroe County early Sunday morning.

The accident happened about 2:05 a.m. on Interstate 75 South about three miles south of High Falls Road, according to a Monroe County Sheriff’s Office release.

Both drivers and a 7-year-old girl died. The victims were identified at David Fryar Jr., 32, of Forsyth, Monserrat Ruiz-Godinez, 29, of College Park, and her daughter, Alani Godinez. The two adults were pronounced dead at the scene. The girl died later at a Macon hospital.

The release stated that shortly before the accident, a caller reported a vehicle going the wrong way on I-75. Deputies were unable to get to the vehicle before the accident occurred. Fryar was traveling north in the southbound lanes, the release stated, in a Honda Accord. He collided with a 2006 Nissan Murano driven by Godinez.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Lawson Bittick said it was too soon to determine whether alcohol was involved.

“That will be part of our investigation,” he said.

Tony McCoy, of Port St. Lucie, Florida, said he and his family could have been the victims. McCoy, his wife, and their son and daughter were returning from a comic convention in Atlanta at the time the accident happened.

McCoy said he was headed south in the left lane and saw what appeared to be headlights coming at him in the same lane. But McCoy was thinking it might be some kind of construction vehicle on the shoulder. Then his wife said it was a wrong way driver and McCoy quickly swerved over into the far right lane.

“He whizzed on by,” McCoy said. “He was flying.”

McCoy said he wondered if the driver was suicidal since the driver made no attempt to avoid a collision.

He said they were about to call 911 to report it when they saw two patrol cars with lights flashing coming the other way. They continued driving throughout the night back to Port St. Lucie. McCoy said he didn’t know what happened until he checked online Sunday for reports of a wrong way driver near Forsyth. He saw The Telegraph’s story about the accident.

“I felt bad,” he said. “I felt like maybe that could have been us.”

This story was originally published May 29, 2016 at 10:25 AM with the headline "Three killed in Monroe County accident on I-75."