Family mourns wrong-way crash victims as UDOT investigates why detection system failed to work

SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Department of Transportation is investigating why a wrong-way detection system didn’t appear to work Saturday morning before a crash that killed a young couple.

UDOT spokesman John Gleason told KSL the department’s traffic operations center did not receive an alert when a vehicle entered I-15 the wrong way at 600 South around 2 a.m. and began traveling southbound in the northbound lanes.

Utah Highway Patrol troopers said that vehicle, driven by Jose Angel Torres Jimenez, 21, hit another car near 1900 South. Both occupants of that second car – Anneka Wilson, 17, and Leo Shepherd, 18 – were killed. Jimenez was booked into jail on suspicion of automobile homicide and driving under the influence.

Gleason said the detection system was installed two years ago and has successfully turned around 216 wrong-way drivers, including one that happened two weeks ago.

Under that system, in addition to alerting UDOT who can then inform troopers, flashing signs also warn the driver they are going the wrong way. It’s unclear if those signs worked in this case, Gleason said, and it’s also unknown if the system could have done anything to prevent this particular crash.

Meanwhile, the brother of one of the victims is speaking out about his sister – and calling attention to the dangers of drinking and driving.

“She loved everyone,” said Hallister Wilson about his sister, Anneka, in an interview with KSL. “She just cared for anybody and everybody.”

Hallister Wilson said his sister loved riding horses and being a cowgirl. She was a senior at Springville High School and had scholarships to several colleges, he said.

“She was on the path to success at a very young age,” Wilson said.

Anneka Wilson and Leo Shepherd were on their way to Idaho for a family get-together when the crash happened. Hallister Wilson said the couple had been dating for a few years.

“She loved him so much, just unconditional,” he said.

The reality of his sister’s death still hasn’t sunk in, and Hallister Wilson said it’s even harder to hear that it involved alleged DUI on the part of another driver.

“It’s hard for me to not think of…how do we prevent this from happening to anybody else again,” he said, “because this should never happen to anybody.”

Hallister Wilson said he would like to see tougher DUI laws that discourage people from choosing to drink and drive in the first place.

“There’s Uber. There’s so many ways in this world to go about drinking and making it home safely,” he said.

Ultimately, Hallister Wilson said, DUI is a crime that impacts many people – not just the drivers involved.

“There was multiple vehicles passing that guy,” he said. “It could have been anyone else’s family also.”

As the Wilson family mourns, they are raising money through a GoFundMe account to help cover funeral costs. They are also comforted by the outpouring of support they have received.

“It brings us a little bit of peace, a little bit of peace, knowing that she was so important – and Leo was so important – to so many people,” Hallister Wilson said.

Meanwhile, Jimenez, the alleged DUI driver, is being held in the Salt Lake County Jail without bail. According to a probable cause statement, he was driving on a learner’s permit at the time of the crash.