The two drivers who were killed in fiery I-75 crash finally named

TAMPA — The truck driver who died in the semi-trailer truck that caused a chain-reaction crash Nov. 13 on Interstate 75, and the Mercedes driver who was killed in the fiery wreck, have finally been named by the Florida Highway Patrol.

The truck driver was Dwayne Edward McCormick, a 54-year-old from Evington, Va.

The Mercedes driver was Robert William Mavis, 40, of Land O’ Lakes.

RELATED: ‘It happened so fast.’ Driver recalls fiery I-75 crash that killed two

McCormick was at the wheel of an International semi-trailer truck that failed to slow down for stopped rush-hour traffic on northbound I-75 near the New Tampa Boulevard overpass, according to the Highway Patrol. He swerved the truck from the outside lane to the center lane to avoid a collision with one vehicle, troopers said, but ended up plowing into the back of another, causing a four-vehicle chain reaction crash.

But then the truck carrying appliances struck another vehicle, troopers said, a Mercedes driven by Mavis. The semi-trailer struck the pillar of a highway sign and ended up on top of the Mercedes.

Both vehicles then caught fire and were quickly engulfed in flames.

The Highway Patrol released the names of McCormick and Mavis, who both died at the scene, on Wednesday. Still under investigation is why the semi-trailer truck failed to slow or stop in time.

Six other people were injured in the crash that shutdown I-75 near the Hillsborough-Pasco border for 13 hours.