Police on Monday identified the two passengers injured in the single-vehicle car crash that killed University of Georgia offensive lineman Devin Willock and staff member Chandler LeCroy early Sunday, just hours after the team celebrated its national championship victory.
Shortly before 3 a.m. Sunday, LeCroy, 24, was driving with Willock, 20, and two other passengers near the UGA campus in Athens when the vehicle went off the road, barreling into two power poles and several trees, the Athens-Clarke County Police Department said in a news release.
Willock was ejected from the vehicle and died on the scene, and LeCroy died after being taken to a hospital, police said.
“None of the other passengers were ejected,” according to police Lt. Shaun Barnett.
Willock, a redshirt sophomore from New Milford, New Jersey, joined the team as a freshman in 2020 and played on the offensive line in all 15 of the team’s games this past season. LeCroy was a football recruiting analyst for UGA, according to her LinkedIn.
The two injured passengers in the crash were identified as Georgia offensive lineman Warren McClendon, 21, who received minor injuries, and Victoria Bowles, 26, who had serious injuries, according to police.
McClendon started at right tackle for Georgia this season and declared for the NFL draft earlier Saturday. His father, Warren McClendon Sr., told the Athens Banner-Herald he needed stitches on his forehead but is “doing well.”
The crash came hours after Sanford Stadium and the surrounding streets were brimming with ecstatic fans who had come to celebrate the Bulldogs’ second straight national championship. But by the next morning, they had joined the team in mourning the sudden loss of Willock and LeCroy.
Willock’s aunt and uncle, Cicely and Norman Stout, said their nephew was well liked and doing well in school.
“He was doing very well. He was very loved by all his peers and all the teachers and all the coaches,” Cicely Stout said. “Devin is always smiling, no matter what. Devin has a smile on his face and he was doing very well in academics. He was doing very good. He was good, very good student, very good person.”
It’s an unfortunately familiar tragedy for the family. Willock’s older brother, Jonathan Wheatley, died in 2009 at the age of 20 from injuries sustained in a similar car crash, Cicely Stout said.
“He’s gone way, way too soon for us,” Willock’s uncle said.
