A Florida couple has been left devastated after all three of their adult children were killed alongside three other people in a fiery highway crash while traveling to what was supposed to be a fun-filled Halloween celebration.
Marshall Clarke-Milton and her husband, Charles Milton Sr., are now facing the unimaginable reality of losing their entire group of adult children in a single night. Their children, Charles, Jakara and Dalvena, were among six people who died Friday, October 23, when their SUV collided with a roadside assistance truck on Florida’s Turnpike near Orlando.
The siblings had been looking forward to visiting Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights with two of their partners and a friend. According to their parents, it was supposed to be the siblings’ first trip together, making the sudden loss even more heartbreaking.
Instead, the family’s plans ended in tragedy along a stretch of highway in Orange County, leaving their parents desperately searching for answers about what happened.
In an emotional interview with FOX 35 Orlando, Clarke-Milton recalled the terrible feeling that something was wrong when she couldn’t reach her children. After learning about a devastating crash on the Turnpike, she contacted authorities, hoping the news had nothing to do with her family.
But when she provided her children’s names, her worst fears began to come true.
“My heart sank,” she recalled. “Because somehow I knew it was them, but I didn’t want it to be them.”
The crash occurred around 9:30 p.m. near mile marker 252 in the northbound lanes of Florida’s Turnpike. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, a Road Ranger roadside assistance driver had been helping at an earlier incident when he received another request involving a disabled box truck stopped along the highway’s outside shoulder.
The Road Ranger, a 28-year-old man from Kissimmee, was preparing to cross from the median toward the stranded vehicle when the 2023 Chevrolet Traverse carrying the six travelers approached.
As the assistance truck moved across the roadway, the front left side of the SUV struck its right rear. The impact sent both vehicles off the road, where they caught fire.
Emergency responders arrived to find that all six occupants of the Chevrolet Traverse had died. The Road Ranger driver suffered minor injuries but did not require transportation to a hospital.
Investigators initially reported that witnesses had seen the SUV traveling at a high rate of speed without its headlights illuminated. However, those observations have not been established as final investigative findings, and the grieving family is urging authorities to carefully examine every possible factor before determining responsibility.
Clarke-Milton has questioned whether the preliminary accounts accurately reflect what happened in the moments before the collision, particularly the claims surrounding the SUV’s speed and headlights.
She believes investigators must thoroughly examine the vehicle and available evidence before drawing conclusions about the actions of the driver.
“So all of these things you have to investigate,” she told FOX 35, emphasizing that authorities need to establish the facts before suggesting anyone was at fault.
The Florida Highway Patrol continues investigating the collision, while the National Transportation Safety Board has also announced plans to examine the circumstances surrounding the crash.
The involvement of federal investigators adds another layer to the inquiry, particularly because the collision involved a roadside assistance vehicle that was attempting to help a disabled motorist.
Road Rangers are part of Florida’s highway assistance program, providing free services such as helping stranded drivers, clearing roadway hazards and assisting with traffic incidents. Their work frequently requires operating close to moving traffic, making visibility, vehicle positioning and driver awareness important considerations during crash investigations.
For the Milton family, however, the focus remains on the six lives lost and the future that vanished with them.
The District Nine Medical Examiner’s Office identified five of the victims as Timothy Williams, Shawn Palmer, Charles Milton, Jakara Milton and Dalvena Green. Officials said the identity of the sixth person had not yet been confirmed publicly, while formal determinations regarding the causes of death remained pending.
The loss is especially difficult for Clarke-Milton and her husband because their children were not simply traveling separately on an ordinary evening. They were together, sharing an experience they had been looking forward to as a family.
What should have become a cherished memory instead left their parents mourning three children at once.
Charles Milton Sr. has spoken about the overwhelming difficulty of trying to process the loss, explaining that even taking life one hour at a time has become an enormous challenge.
Yet amid their grief, the couple says they have found one powerful reason to keep moving forward: their granddaughter.
Clarke-Milton explained that caring for the little girl has become the center of their lives, providing a sense of purpose at a time when almost everything else feels uncertain.
“Everything is for her,” she said. “I’m happy that we were blessed with her, because without her we would have literally had nothing.”
Her words reveal the depth of a family’s devastation, but also the love that remains as the grandparents begin navigating a future they never imagined.
Meanwhile, investigators are continuing to reconstruct the collision, with questions about the vehicles’ movements, speed and visibility still to be answered. Authorities have not released a final determination of fault, and the family’s request for a thorough investigation remains an important part of the story.
For Clarke-Milton and her husband, no investigative finding can undo what happened that Friday night. Their children had set out together for a Halloween celebration filled with excitement and anticipation, never knowing that their family would soon be facing an unimaginable loss.
What a horrific tragedy. I’m speechless. 🥺