Arrest report details what led up deadly wrong-way crash on I-75

LEE COUNTY, Fla. (WINK) − WINK News obtained an arrest report that provides new details about a deadly wrong-way crash on Interstate 75 that killed a 96-year-old man on Wednesday. 

The Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) arrested a woman accused of DUI and driving the wrong way on I-75 southbound, which caused a fatal three-vehicle crash.

According to troopers, Genise Gardenia Taylor, 24, was driving northbound on the southbound lanes of I-75 Wednesday morning around 4 a.m.

Troopers responded to the crash at the 109-mile marker of I-75 southbound just after 4:00 a.m. on Wednesday.

The crash killed 96-year-old Arthur Ward Gilbert, according to the report. Deputies tried to perform CPR on Gilbert before he was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Troopers obtained cellphone video that showed a black Nissan Rogue northbound in the southbound lanes of I-75, nearly missing multiple vehicles. The video cut off just before the crash, according to the report. 

Collier County Sheriff's deputies said the driver of the Nissan, Taylor, appeared to be impaired at the scene of the crash. Collier County EMS transported her to Physicians Regional Pine Ridge Hospital. 

Deputies found Taylor behind the drivers seat of the car at the crash scene. Taylor told deputies that her grandmother would be upset she totaled the car, according to the report. 

Troopers interviewed Taylor at the hospital. She had "glassy eyes and the moderate odor of alcoholic beverages," the report said. Medical staff took a blood sample that showed a blood alcohol content level of 0.213. 

Taylor told troopers that she was the driver and the only person in the Black Nissan Rogue. Taylor said she didn't know what happened in the crash, only that she was hit by another vehicle. 

Taylor told troopers that she took her daughter to Chuck E. Cheese in Naples before putting her to bed at 9:30 p.m. Taylor left the house at 11:30 p.m. to go out for the evening, according to the report. 

She met with a friend at the Blue Martini bar in Mercato plaza before meeting someone she was "talking to" at the Waffle House off Pine Ridge Road at I-75. Taylor told troopers she then left to go home. 

At first, Taylor told troopers that she only had one glass of wine at Blue Martini with her friend. But troopers continued to question Taylor, who admitted to drinking more. 

"She smirked and made a long pause, then indicated that she also had a shot of liquor there as well," the report said. 

Troopers combed through Taylor's Instagram stories, which showed her with a young girl at an arcade. Another photo showed Taylor wearing St. Patrick's Day beads in a restroom, according to the report. One post showed a British flag on the ceiling of a bar, consistent with The Pub, the report said. 

Deputies arrested Taylor for DUI manslaughter just after 10 a.m. at the hospital. 

A Collier County judge denied bond for a visibly-shaken Taylor on Thursday. The judge ordered Taylor not to have any contact with the third driver who survived the crash. 

The 24-year-old was in a wheelchair at the Collier County jail and joined the hearing over video. Taylor's grandmother, great-grandmother, and brother appeared in court. They declined to speak on-camera but said Taylor's child is with them.