Family, friends gather to remember life of crash victim one year later

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - One year after a crash that left her best friend, Taylor Dunn, dead, Alyssa Lane it hasn’t been easy for her.

“It’s been devastating. It’s been the worst year of my life. It’s really indescribable.” Lane said.

According to the original MPD reports, officers responded shortly before 4 a.m., on June 7, to the intersection of Mineral Point Road and S. High Point Road after receiving reports a wreck involving a pedestrian. When they arrived, investigators determined that a battery-assisted bicycle had collided with a vehicle. They also found Taylor Dunn dead on scene.

Lane said a year out from Dunn’s death, it still feels surreal that he is gone.

“I think both of us were really learning to love and enjoy life and I feel like that’s been taken from me and taken from all of our families and friends we wake up in a reality that we don’t love anymore,” Lane added.

Lane and Dunn’s family and friends gathered in Leeson Park in Beloit, Dunn’s hometown, to celebrate his life and remember him one year after the accident. They each lit up paper lanterns and balloons and released them into the sky.

“It shows how many people loved him and its great to feel that love,” Lane explained.

The same day as the hit and run, a suspect, Okima Jones, was arrested and charged with homicide by intoxicated use of vehicle. Now, according to state record, she is set to sit before a jury trial starting on June 27.

Lane shared what she hoped to gain from the trial.

“The first words that would come to mind are a sense of closure or justice, but I don’t think I’m going to get that,” Lane said.

She said the crash has given her a new outlook on life and hopes that it will be a reminder for those in Wisconsin to resist the drinking culture.

“Its reinforced the idea that you need to be present in every moment and appreciate the people here with you and cherish them.”

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