Husband, wife killed in wrong-way, 8-car crash on I-95; family gathers to honor their memory

Florida man, wife killed in wrong-way crash on I-95

Family and friends gathered Friday night to remember Winston Willis and his wife, who were killed last Sunday, Sept. 14, after they were struck by a wrong-way driver on Interstate 95 in Brevard County. Willis mom, Monte Clemmons, said she found out about her son's death while she was at church. She said she's relying on her faith to get through.

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. - Monte Clemmons is heartbroken, yes. But, she is also relying on her faith, friends, and family to help lift her up – and keep her moving forward. Her son, Winston Willis, and his wife, Annmarie, were hit head-on by a wrong-way driver last Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025, on Interstate 95.

FHP: 3 killed in wrong-way, 8-car crash on I-95

What we know:

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the crash happened around 3:50 a.m. on Interstate 95 near mile marker 190 (N. Wickham Road). FHP said a 34-year-old woman in a Toyota Corolla made an unexpected U-Turn while on the freeway, near mile marker 190, and began driving southbound in the northbound lanes. 

The Corolla hit Willis' vehicle, a 2024 Chevy Impala, head on. The driver of a 2007 Hyundai Tiburon was unable to avoid the crash and hit both vehicles, causing Willis' vehicle to leave the roadway and hit a guardrail, FHP said. That then sparked a chain-reaction crash, involving a total of eight vehicles and debris spread across the freeway.

Six people were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, FHP said.

FHP said the cause of the crash was the wrong-way driver.

Remembering her son and his family

Monte Clemmons remembered his son as a husband, brother, and father. She tragically found out about his death days after on what was her birthday.

"Every stage of the journey of his life went before my eyes," she said, recalling the moment she found out about her son's death. She focused on his life moments and achievements, like graduating high school, graduating from Bethune-Cookman University, meeting his wife, and being a dad.

He worked as a chef at Caribbean Jack's in Daytona Beach, she said.

"I have nothing but gratitude for our God enabled me to raise him, loaned him to me, for me to be his mom," she said.

She also recalled his relationship with his wife, their love for cooking, gardening, and eating healthy.

"Just to see how him and his wife just loved on each other, taught me things they were into, like herbs, and cooking healthy."

She said when paramedics found the two inside the vehicle after the crash, she was told that they were in each other's arms. She finds comfort that they were together in the end.

"People have told me that they had to get the jaws of life to pry open in the car," said Clemmons. "They were cuddled together. I guess at the impact, he went to the back seat in some kind of way, she went from the front, but they were together. And so I'm glad that he had her. I'm that she made him happy in life, and I'm pretty sure they're happy up there together too."

What you can do:

The family has created a GoFundMe account to help raise funds to bring Winston's body to California.