Three die as car splits in half after hitting tree off Tram Road, Florida

Three young people were killed on Friday night when their car crashed into a tree and split in two off Tram Road near Southwood, Tallahassee, Florida.

The Florida Highway Patrol did not provide the names of the four people, all Tallahassee residents, involved in the single-vehicle crash. The three victims, all passengers, were identified only as a man and woman, both 20, and another man, 25. The driver, a 20-year-old man, was admitted to Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare with serious injuries.

Family members of Franklin Mitchell identified him as the older passenger. He had a 3-year-old daughter and cleaned state offices for a living, said one of his sisters, who asked not to be identified.

The Highway Patrol said a sedan was westbound on Tram Road past Merchants Row Boulevard when it went off the road for unknown reasons and onto the right shoulder. The car skirted a tree line before striking into a tree.

“(The vehicle) split in half with the front half coming to rest on the north shoulder facing south and the back half coming to rest on the south should leaning against a utility pole,” FHP said in a news release.

Mitchell and another passenger were declared dead at the scene. The third died at a regional hospital.

The Highway Patrol said the driver was not using a seatbelt on and that it was unknown if the passengers were using seat belts.

The Leon County Sheriff’s Office, the Tallahassee Police Department, and the Tallahassee Fire Department helped at the scene.