Genise Taylor, ex-Cavo server, jailed for fatal DUI crash in Naples

NAPLES, Fla. (WINK) — New details are emerging about the hours leading up to a deadly wrong-way crash on I-75—and where the driver accused of DUI manslaughter spent her night.

Investigators say 24-year-old Genise Taylor was at multiple locations in Mercato before the crash that killed 96-year-old Arthur Gilbert.

A manager at Cavo tells WINK News Taylor worked there as a server but was fired and banned last Saturday for “doing something she wasn’t supposed to.”

The manager declined to provide additional details.

On Tuesday night, Taylor did not go to Cavo, but instead spent time at other bars in the area.

According to the arrest report, Taylor started her night at Blue Martini.

A manager there told WINK News off camera that she was at the bar for about an hour before being asked to leave following a verbal argument with another customer around 12:30 a.m.

The manager said staff did not see signs of obvious intoxication as she was leaving.

The report states Taylor then went to The Pub, where she posted a photo to her Instagram story.

When WINK News asked for comment, a manager directed questions to corporate. Calls to the company were not returned, and voicemail boxes were full.

After leaving Mercato, the report says Taylor stopped at a Waffle House near the Pine Ridge Road exit.

WINK News also learned, following a tip from a viewer, that Taylor was pulled over earlier that same morning by a Collier County deputy for speeding.

The Collier County Sheriff’s Office confirmed an internal investigation has been launched but has not released additional details, including where or when the traffic stop occurred.

Deputies say Taylor later got onto I-75, drove the wrong way, and crashed into two vehicles—killing Arthur Gilbert.

Gilbert had been on his way home after dropping off his wife at the airport.

WINK News spoke with his wife, Pamela, who says the support from the community has meant everything.

“In hindsight, I think he would love to know the support and love, this outpouring and how much he meant to everybody,” Pamela Gilbert said.

Taylor is now in jail facing a DUI manslaughter charge. Taylor's public defender filed paperwork yesterday for a written plea of not guilty and for a waiver of arraignment.

WINK News will continue to follow this case and bring you updates as they become available.