JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA — The 29-year-old Jacksonville man killed early Sunday morning after swerving to avoid a disabled vehicle on Interstate 295 and striking a stopped tractor-trailer has been identified as La’Kavion James. His wife, Tequila Wilson, woke up to a phone call from his brother that changed her life forever — and says she wants the world to remember him not for how he died, but for who he was.
“He was a really good person with a really big heart. He was so laid back,” Wilson said. “If anything, I want people to remember him as a person with a big heart and that he was always there for people.”
What Happened
Florida Highway Patrol said the crash occurred around 5:13 a.m. Sunday on southbound I-295 near Wilson Boulevard. James was driving an SUV in the center lane when he swerved left to avoid a disabled vehicle. A tractor-trailer driven by a 36-year-old Haines City man was stopped on the inside shoulder while its driver assisted the disabled vehicle. James struck the rear of the tractor-trailer. His SUV rotated and came to rest blocking the left travel lane. He was pronounced dead at the scene. FHP said James was not wearing a seatbelt. The tractor-trailer driver was not injured.
All southbound lanes of I-295 at Wilson Boulevard were closed for hours following the crash. The crash remains under investigation.
Remembering La’Kavion
Wilson described James as her high school sweetheart and best friend. The two had separated at some point but remained close. She had spent time with him the night before he died — a night she now knows was their last.
“You need to wake up now, something happened to Kavion,” Wilson recalled being told by his brother. “And I’m like, what is going to happen to Kavion? And he was like, Kavion died. And so I’m like, die? What do you mean he died? I was just with Kavion yesterday.”
“That was my best friend, my whole new life,” Wilson said. “Despite what we went through after our separation — we were still cool.”
James leaves behind Wilson, two younger siblings, and Wilson’s daughter — whom he never stopped treating as his own even after the separation.
“Even after we separated, he never stopped being there for my daughter,” Wilson said. “If I needed him for any little thing or whatever, he would be there for me. He continued to treat my daughter as his own.”
Wilson said her daughter has taken the loss hard as well.
Interviews courtesy of local media.
📸 Image(s) used under fair use for news reporting.
