It's just heartbreaking coming
off of the celebratory week
and the parade yesterday,
getting to see this player and
then come to find out, you know,
he lost his life early this morning.
The entire bulldog nation is is that,
is that a loss?
And I can't imagine what
his family's going through.
How can anybody imagine that?
Good evening, I'm Kristen Crowley.
There's a different feeling tonight
for many backers of Georgia football.
24 hours ago the mood was ecstatic,
celebrating a second straight
national championship,
now being replaced with grief over
the tragic loss of two members of
the program's 20 year old Devin
Willick and offensive lineman and
24 year old Chandler Lacroix,
who served as a member of the Football staff.
Both died while traveling
overnight in Athens.
The crash happened early this
morning along Barnett Shoals Rd.
In Athens, Athens.
Clark County police say the vehicle
they were in veered off the road,
struck 2 power poles and several trees
before finally coming to a stop.
We go now live to our reporter Don
White with the latest on this tragedy
affecting all of Georgia. Don.
Well, Christian, we saw fans and
students coming to Sanford Stadium today.
We saw them leaving these flowers here
and the signs at this makeshift memorial.
And you can feel the sense of sadness and
grief as a community here comes together.
A dark and quiet UGA campus is quite the
change from Saturday's festive atmosphere.
It feels very heavy
today. It just felt very heavy.
Like yesterday was just light
and cheery and everyone
having like the best time.
And today it's like, wow,
everything changed so fast and.
It's just sad,
U GA freshman Rebecca Harcourt
went from elation to grief.
It's pretty devastating,
especially after the celebration,
and the parade yesterday was sobering.
Also at the parade,
offensive lineman Devin Willick,
who posted this video to social
media of him along the parade
route celebrating a second
straight national championship.
Shocking. A lot of disbelief. It's.
I can't wrap my head around it.
Like we saw them yesterday having the
time of their lives and then today, like,
I can't imagine the grief that the team
especially is going through right now.
And I just hear this bang,
the power goes out and then it comes back on.
But I was curious so I got
out of bed and came out here.
Sicily Pangburn heard the crash Athens,
Clark County police say happened
around 2:45 Sunday morning along
Barnett Shoals Rd. in Athens.
I can't even tell what happened
because they hit the power
line, they hit a light pole
and then they hit the tree.
And then they hit the building like,
I I don't even.
And then they end up behind the car.
I can't even say how they would
have gotten into that position.
Police say 24 year old Chandler Lacroix,
a staff member for the football team,
was driving the car at the time
of the crash. She died from her
injuries in addition to Willick.
Me and my friends were right around
that age, you know, how do you?
How do you deal with losing,
losing people that are so young?
You know, I'm I'm sure that
everyone involved had a lot
more to offer to the world.
It's scary. Especially with like, DeMar
Hamlin last week and now him. It's just.
It just teaches you not to
take a single day for granted.
And our insiders that UG sports.com
are also reporting tonight,
offensive lineman Warren McClendon
was also in that car and he has
been released from the hospital.
A fourth person,
staff member Tori Bowles,
she is in the hospital right
now in serious condition.
And Kristen Bulldogs Nation is
in mourning tonight and they are
coming together in their grief.
Yeah, Don, tonight we are seeing one
of Devon's last acts of kindness,
showing he was someone who was a kind soul
and cared about others after the parade.
Yesterday, Georgia Fan Sam Kramer tweeted
out these pictures of Devin and thanked him
for taking time to talk to his grandson.
He also said Devin went out of his
way to make him feel special and
that it made his day.
Devin also let the young boy wear
his championship ring from last year.
These photos a great representation
of the person Devin Wise.
And this story continues to develop.
For the very latest,
you can head over to 11 alive.com.