Mom who drove children into ocean has ties to 2007 fatal crash

The Associated Press contributed to this report.


It appears that the pregnant South Carolina woman who drove her minivan with her three young children into the surf at Daytona Beach has some tragic ties to Florida.

The Charleston, S.C. paper The Post and Courier reports Ebony Wilkerson, 32, was cited in a fatal car wreck in Delray Beach on Feb. 23, 2007.

That day, an Ebony Wilkerson of Delray Beach was northbound on Interstate 95 when she switched lanes and hit the rear of a Nissan driven by a Fort Lauderdale man, Douglas Krane. Krane lost control of the car as it traveled across several lanes and slammed into a concrete barrier. Krane was not harmed, but his 35-year-old wife Jennifer Krane was taken to Delray Medical Center with critical injuries, The Palm Beach Post reported that day.

Jennifer Krane died several days later.

Details about any citation in the case were not immediately available.

A Volusia County Sheriff's Office spokesman said Thursday that Ebony Wilkerson was still being evaluated under the Baker Act, according to The Associated Press. The law that allows authorities to involuntarily take people into custody if they seem to be a threat to themselves.

No one was injured in Wilkerson’s drive into the ocean Tuesday.

Bystanders and officers helped pull her and her children — ages 3, 9 and 10 — from their minivan as it was almost submerged.

Wilkerson was stopped in her vehicle by police officers two hours before she drove into the ocean. Her sister called police worried since Wilkerson had been talking about demons.

The officers found her lucid and let her go.

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