alexis morris

Published Wednesday, February 15, 2006 ALEXIS MORRIS, 18 McKeel Academy LAKELAND -- Miss Alexis Kuuipo Morris of Lakeland died of injuries suffered in an automobile accident Monday (Feb. 13, 2006) at Tampa General Hospital. She was 18. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on Jan. 10, 1988, she came to Lakeland from there in 1995. She was a student at McKeel Academy in Lakeland where she played volleyball and basketball. She also was involved with the TV production program at McKeel. She had just started her internship with the Polk County Sheriff's Office. She was a member of All Saints Episcopal Church in Lakeland. Miss Morris is survived by her parents, John and Jacqueline Morris, Lakeland; brother, Rick Morris, Lakeland; sister, Kelly Kaimilani Sheather, Honolulu; maternal grandmother, Beverly Cooper, Lakeland; paternal grandmother, Laura Morris, Honolulu. Services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Victory Church chapel. Gentry-Morrison Dukes Steen Funeral Chapel.

Published Tuesday, February 14, 2006

2 Dead in Crash That Snarls I-4 for Hours

By Gabrielle Finley
The Ledger

PLANT CITY -- A Lakeland woman and her boyfriend were killed in an accident on Interstate 4 early Monday, the first fatalities on I-4 in Hillsborough or Polk County so far this year, the Florida Highway Patrol reported.

The 5:15 a.m. accident shut down traffic for several hours, the FHP reported.

Anthony S. Boswell, 20, of Plant City, and his passenger Alexis Morris, 18, of Lakeland, were in a 2001 Hyundai Tiburon headed east on I-4 near Plant City.

Their car collided with the back of 56-year-old Luis E. Cordoves' 1993 Mercury Grand Marquis, according to an FHP report.

The Tiburon went into the median and crossed into the westbound lanes, colliding with the left rear of a tractor-trailer, the report said.

Upon impact, the tractor-trailer smashed into a concrete barrier wall and overturned, cutting off westbound traffic just east of the Alexander Street exit, the report said.

Boswell, who was not wearing a seat belt, was pronounced dead at the crash scene, the report said.

Morris was flown to Tampa General Hospital where she died about 4:30 p.m., the FHP said.

Cordoves was not injured, and 54-year-old Richard Briseno, the tractor-trailer driver, suffered minor injuries, the report said.

Briseno was taken to South Florida Baptist Hospital in Plant City.

Traffic was shut down for five hours, backing up to the edge of Polk County, said FHP spokesman Larry Coggins.

Troopers routed traffic to Frontage Road while crews worked to clean up the road and move the tractor-trailer.

There have been no traffic fatalities on I-4 in Polk County so far this year, Coggins said.

Gabrielle Finley can be reached at gabrielle.finley@theledger.com or 863-802-7590.