The life of UF student Shannon Kane, 22, was cut short early Monday morning in a traffic accident on I-75 involving eight vehicles in north Marion County, south of Gainesville.
Kane was a graduate teaching assistant for UF's bands and working on her master's degree in wind conducting. She was also the director of the UF women's volleyball pep band. She earned her bachelor's degree from Syracuse University.
Susana Cruz, 52, the mother of a UF student, also died in the crash, said UF spokesman Steve Orlando. There were no other deaths or serious injuries, according to officials.
The accident began around 5:40 a.m. when the driver of a 2000 Ford F-150 lost control and crashed into the median, causing six other vehicles to crash, according to the Florida Highway Patrol crash report.
Kane, originally a passenger in one of the vehicles involved, was killed when she was knocked off the interstate's overpass by a vehicle that struck the vehicle she was standing next to, pushing her onto a car traveling below on State Road 326.
Cruz, driving a 2007 Toyota, struck the initial vehicle that crashed into the median and was then struck from behind by another vehicle. She was ejected 100 to 150 feet from her car, said Heather Danenhower, a spokeswoman for Marion County Fire Rescue. Cruz's car then caught fire, Danenhower said. Both women were taken to Shands at UF where they were later pronounced dead. The I-75 southbound lane was closed for about five hours after the accident.
An e-mail sent to music students Monday by UF assistant professor John Watkins stated that Kane's boyfriend, Michael Ubbens, was in the car with Kane at the time of the crash. Watkins told students that rehearsals and concerts for UF's bands have been canceled for the week and funeral services are planned for later this week in Kane's hometown of Saylorsburg, Penn. Counseling will be available on Wednesday at 1:55 p.m. at the Steinbrenner Band Hall, he wrote.
Katelyn Bailey, a UF health education junior, said she will remember Kane's infectious smile.
"Every time you saw her she was always smiling, just radiating," she said.
"It really is true; the good die young," she said. "She was very undeserving of that kind of death."
