A UF student involved in a single-car crash on Wednesday died Thursday morning.
Brock Benton, a UF zoology junior, died at about 10:30 a.m. on Thursday at Shands at UF, said Summer Hallett, spokeswoman for the Gainesville Police Department. Benton was 26.
Hallett said Benton was driving a 1995 four-door sedan eastbound on Northwest 16th Avenue and "weaving in and out of traffic" when a move to the left sent him over the median, across westbound traffic and into a driveway at about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Benton, who wasn't wearing a seat belt, flew into a palm tree and then hit another tree before being wedged between the two, Hallett said.
She said Benton suffered head and spinal injuries.
His father, Ralph Benton, said his "big-hearted, charismatic" son loved working with animals and the environment.
He said before transferring to UF, Brock Benton worked with monkeys at the Animal Science Building at Shands at UF as an SFCC student.
"He looks like he's real mean and ferocious, but he was just a real teddy bear on the inside," Ralph Benton said.
Growing up in Gainesville, Brock Benton was "consumed" with sports, playing both football and basketball as a student at Buchholz High School.
He tore his ACL three times in his right knee, leading him to pursue a UF degree instead of a career in sports, his father said.
But that goal was cut short Thursday, leaving family and friends with just memories, including Snoop, his 7-year-old American Staffordshire Bull Terrier.
"He knows he's gone," Ralph Benton said of Snoop. "He always slept with my son, and lately he's been sleeping at the edge of my bed."
He said the funeral will be held today at 2 p.m. at the Williams-Thomas Funeral Home.
