Students killed in I-275 crash to be honored with service

 

Four days after the death of four Sigma Beta Rho fraternity brothers, the fraternity and university will host a memorial service at 3:30 p.m. today in the MLK Plaza to commemorate their lives. 

Dammie Yesudhas, Jobin Kuriakose, Ankeet Patel and Imtiyaz Ilias died early Sunday morning when an SUV, driven by a 28-year-old man later identified by Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) as Daniel Lee Morris, traveling in the wrong direction of the northbound lane of I-275 collided with the vehicle carrying the brothers. 

Tapes released Wednesday from the FHP reveal that multiple calls were made in the minutes leading up to the crash as passersby called in the vehicle traveling in the wrong direction that ended in the crash that killed all five individuals traveling in the two vehicles.   

Yesudhas, 21, was a mechanical engineering major from Melbourne and president of the Chess Club. His friends remembered him as outgoing and caring, striking up conversations with new people. He was social chair and strollmaster of his fraternity’s chapter. 

Kuriakose, 21, was a senior majoring in political science from Orlando. Members of his fraternity said they counted him as part of them even before he officially joined, because of his warm personality. 

“He was the life of the party and always knew how to overcome negativity,” Mohsin ‘Rhythmk’ Hussain the national Sigma Beta Rho president said. 

Patel, 22, was a junior majoring in finance from Melbourne. His friends remembered him for his smile. 

“He always brought joy to whoever he was around,” Hussain said. “He lived with the philosophy that there was never a reason to not smile, because if he wasn’t smiling, he wasn’t living at his full potential.”

Ilias, 20, who went by “Jim,” was a sophomore majoring in public health from Fort Myers. He was remembered as respectful and humble, family-oriented with dreams of going to nursing school.

Members of each of the brothers’ families will be at the service as well as members from the national chapter of Sigma Beta Rho. The service is open to the public.