Orlando Driver Lost Control Of Car On I-4, Slammed Into Tree, Passenger Killed: Sheriff

POLK COUNTY, FL — An Orlando man was killed in a crash Tuesday morning on Interstate 4 when the driver of the car lost control and hit a tree, Polk County Sheriff's Office said.

The driver, 55-year-old Divel Laurent, suffered critical injuries, deputies said.

Laurent drove a white 2006 Lincoln Town Car eastbound on I-4 about a half-mile west of U.S. Highway 27 near Davenport just before 10:20 a.m. when the crash occurred. A witness told deputies that the Town Car got too close to another vehicle, and Laurent jerked the steering wheel to move away. The roads were wet because it had been raining, deputies said.

Laurent lost control of the car and it slid into the median and crashed into a tree, investigators said.

The passenger 42-year-old Jean Marie St. Gilles was pronounced dead at the crash location, according to authorities.

Two eastbound lanes of I-4 were shut down for three hours during the traffic homicide investigation, police said.

The investigation is ongoing.