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Left: Genise Taylor (Collier County Jail). Right: Arthur Gilbert (Town of Dorset).
In a recent twist to an ongoing legal case, a Florida woman, accused of causing a fatal accident while allegedly driving under the influence, made a surprising disclosure during a phone call. The woman, Genise Taylor, reportedly admitted that a police officer had stopped her earlier that night but allowed her to continue on her way.
Genise Taylor, 24, is facing charges of DUI manslaughter following the tragic death of Arthur Gilbert, a 96-year-old resident, near Naples. The fatal crash took place in the early hours of March 18 on the southbound lanes of Interstate 75, close to mile marker 109.
Authorities allege that Taylor was driving a Nissan Rogue in the wrong direction on the highway when she collided with Gilbert’s Volvo XC60. Although emergency personnel quickly transported Gilbert to the hospital, he was pronounced dead upon arrival. Meanwhile, a blood sample from Taylor revealed a blood alcohol concentration of .213, which is significantly above the legal limit of 0.08, according to the arrest affidavit.
Following her arrest, Taylor was read her Miranda rights and recounted her activities on the night of the incident. She claimed to have put her daughter to bed around 9:30 p.m. before heading to a bar with a friend. Later, she mentioned stopping at a Waffle House to meet someone. When questioned about her alcohol consumption, Taylor insisted she only had a single glass of wine, as noted in the affidavit.
However, when investigators pressed her on whether she had consumed more than one drink, she reportedly responded with a “smirk,” casting doubt on her earlier statement.
But her consumption of alcohol was not the only detail she failed to divulge, cops say.
Prosecutors at a bond hearing Monday revealed that in a jail phone call with a relative, Taylor said a Collier County Sheriff’s deputy pulled her over hours before the fatal crash.
“She says, yes, she was stopped, and that she knew the officer,” said Mara Marzano, assistant state attorney, according to a courtroom report from local CBS affiliate WINK. Two friends then took Taylor and her vehicle to a Waffle House.
Traffic cameras picked up Taylor’s vehicle again around 3:30 a.m. at Golden Gate Parkway and I-75.
“She’s asleep at an intersection for half an hour or more, and then proceeds to somehow get on the interstate going the wrong way,” Marzano reportedly said.
Taylor’s attorney argued that “there was no intent for this to happen” but it was a “series of events that spiraled out of control and unfortunately ended in someone’s death.”
The Collier County Sheriff’s Office told WINK that the deputy involved in the initial traffic stop, Eric Pellegrino, is a subject of an internal investigation.
A judge denied Taylor’s request for a bond and she remains in the Collier County Jail.
Gilbert, a retired geologist originally from Vermont, had just dropped his wife off at the airport before the crash.
“I said Art, ‘I love you, and you’ll be with me forever,’” Pamela Gilbert said in an interview with local NBC affiliate WBBH.
As for Taylor, the victim’s wife said her fate was up to the courts.
“This woman will live with this for the rest of her life,” she told WBBH. “The law will take care of whatever needs to happen, and I couldn’t put my energy into that anger.”