An SFC student who died following a car accident in Jacksonville early Saturday morning was remembered Wednesday at a memorial service at the First United Methodist Church of Ocala.
Robert McCoy, 21, was a liberal arts major from Ocala in his first semester at SFC. McCoy and four other passengers were leaving a Halloween party at 1 a.m. in a 2002 Honda when the car was struck by a car traveling in the wrong direction.
Matt Samra, 20, said he was McCoy's roommate their freshman year at the University of North Florida and had known McCoy since they were both 11 years old.
"He was always really nice and put everyone before himself," Samra said.
Samra had been driving the Honda back to his house in Jacksonville when the accident occurred.
The other passengers in the Honda were UF students Hailey Zielinski, 19, and Laura Milton, 20, and SFC student Sabrina Shields, 19. Zielinski and Shields are in Shands at Jacksonville in stable condition, Samra said.
McCoy's Gainesville roommate, UF student Dante Sorrentino, 20, said Shields and McCoy had been dating.
"Their one-year anniversary was on Halloween," Sorrentino said. "They loved each other so much and were probably going to get married."
The two met when McCoy transferred from UNF to Auburn University for his sophomore year, Sorrentino said.
Sorrentino said he thought McCoy transferred to SFC to be closer to his family.
"He loved being around his family," he said. "He would come down every weekend to go hunting with his dad, even when he was going to Auburn."
