USF Student Passes Away in Tragic Incident — Final Communication With Family Revealed

She was minutes from home, driving back from a celebration, when a single bad decision destroyed everything, and the last words her family received from her were ones of pure love.

Lauryn Marie Akey, 21, a University of South Florida student from Bradenton, Florida, was killed in the early hours of Sunday, May 17, 2026, on Interstate 75 in Charlotte County.

She was heading home after having a wonderful night celebrating when something came at her on that highway. She was 21 years old, weeks away from her senior year, and had a plan for her entire future.

Who Was the Young Woman Behind the Wheel?

Born on October 21, 2004, Akey grew up in Rochelle, Illinois, where she graduated from Rochelle Township High School in 2023. In high school, she was a cheerleader who was known for pulling people toward her, not just cheering from the sidelines.

After graduation, she moved to Florida with her family and enrolled at USF in Tampa as an Exercise Science major, carrying a 4.0 GPA on her way to becoming a nurse.

Her weekends looked like a mood board for someone who had figured out what made her happy. She would go fishing with her boyfriend, Garrett Day, chase sunsets on the water, and make her way to every Taylor Swift concert she could.

Akey, or "Sissy" as she was called by her brothers, had three dogs she adored: a Golden Retriever named Sanibel, an Australian Shepherd named Zues, and a Havanese named Miley.

To her mother, Melinda Mucho, one word covered all of it. "She was so kind," Mucho said. "I just want everyone to know who she is and her spirit. And how she loved everyone."

What Was She Doing the Night She Died?

The evening of May 16 into the early hours of May 17, Akey was driving south on I-75 after attending a wedding. She pulled over to fill up her gas tank before getting back on the highway, and while she was stopped, she sent her family a text.

She told them she had gotten gas. She told them she loved them. That was the last message they received from her.

Just after 1 a.m., Florida Department of Transportation traffic cameras near mile marker 150 in Charlotte County captured what would later become a criminal exhibit: a Ford F-150 completing a full U-turn directly into the northbound lanes of I-75.

Akey couldn't have seen it coming. Her car was one of two struck head-on in the collision that followed. Florida Highway Patrol troopers arrived to find the harrowing aftermath: Akey was gone, and a woman in the second vehicle, along with her 12-year-old and 15-year-old passengers, suffered serious injuries.

A third car clipped debris from the wreckage but sustained only minor damage, with no injuries reported.

Who Was the Driver Responsible?

Behind the wheel of the F-150 was Dennis Lee Olson, 53, of Lehigh Acres, Florida. When troopers administered a blood alcohol test, his level came back at 0.222, nearly three times Florida's legal limit of 0.08.

FHP Trooper Ken Watson said, "This is someone who made a horrible decision, and it cost someone their life and seriously injured three other people."

What emerged from a background check made the tragedy harder to absorb. Olson held a Minnesota driver's license, and court records from that state showed he had been down this road before.

The South St. Paul Police Department arrested him for a misdemeanor DWI in 2019. He served two years of probation and was required to complete a Mothers Against Drunk Driving course. He completed it. Seven years later, he got behind the wheel drunk again, this time on a Florida interstate after midnight.

Olson now faces felony charges of vehicular homicide and DUI manslaughter. A Charlotte County judge ordered him held without bond, and the state attorney's office has signaled that additional charges may still come, given that one of the children from the second vehicle required surgery.

Could Any of This Have Been Prevented?

Watson answered that question directly. "By planning ahead, this tragedy could have most certainly been avoided," he said. "Now, we have several families who have been destroyed, including the driver himself, who is now looking at several years behind bars."

Larry Coggins, the state director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, further emphasized that the driver had every option available that night, from designated drivers and taxis to rideshare apps, yet chose not to use any of them.

Coggins also looked at the mindset behind impaired driving, explaining that no one leaves their home planning to cause a crash, take a life, or get a DUI. Instead, he pointed out that the real danger begins the moment someone drinks, as alcohol quickly destroys a person's ability to make logical decisions.

For Akey's mother, the grief is immeasurable, but she has chosen to speak because her daughter deserves to be known beyond the circumstances of her death.

"Her life was just on the horizon; her life was just getting started with her boyfriend," she said. "She was going to graduate next year, and I want everyone to see her and feel that."

How Are the People Who Loved Her Keeping Her Memory Going?

In the days following the crash, Akey's friends launched the hashtag #lovelikelauryn, building a corner of social media where the people she touched have gathered to share what she meant to them.

Mucho has pointed anyone who didn't know her daughter toward that space. "You can feel it by looking at her smile," she said. "I want everyone to see her and be like her. She was never mean to anybody. She brought people together, so many people together. Loved hard, loved so hard."

On May 23, Mucho also posted a video collage on Instagram showing how much Akey loved being at the beach or near water. In the caption, she wrote:

"She belonged where the water meets the sky. A drunk driver took her from us far too soon. So if you take anything from this video — don't drink and drive…please! Fish on, baby girl. We'll find you in every sunset on the water."

Family members left to cherish her memory include her mother, her father, Jason Akey, and her stepmother, Amy Akey. She also leaves behind her stepfather, Robert Mucho, her brothers Zachary, Maddox, Jaxon, and Avery Akey, and her grandparents Julie Torgersen, Steven Peavy, and Jim Akey, alongside a large circle of extended relatives and close friends.

A Celebration of Life Service will be held on May 30, 2026, at 10:30 a.m. at Grace Community Church, 4080 Lakewood Ranch Blvd N, Lakewood Ranch, FL 34240.

Her family has asked everyone to wear bright, cheerful colors in her honor. Her obituary closes with a Taylor Swift lyric that says, "Long live all the magic we made."