‘It’s like a nightmare that we can’t wake up from’: Family mourns Alabama lineman killed in Baton Rouge crash

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - An Alabama family is mourning after a lineman died in a car crash in Baton Rouge on Sunday, Sept. 19.

According to the Baton Rouge Police Department, the crash occurred on I-12 near the Drusilla Lane exit around 6 p.m.

Investigators said Deandre Gilmore, 33, was one of three people in a GMC truck that tried to change lanes and crashed into a barrier. Gilmore was not wearing a seatbelt and died at the scene. The other two were taken to the hospital with injuries not considered life-threatening.

All three were in town from Alabama working due to Hurricane Ida.

Jasmine Grow, Gilmore’s sister-in-law, described the last 24 hours as a nightmare that nobody can wake up from.

“We knew that he was up there doing something that he wanted to do,” said Grow.

Gilmore leaves behind a 5-year-old daughter and an unborn child. Grow said Gilmore found out his fiancé, Raven, was pregnant just before he left to head to Louisiana.

“He has a baby on the way. We just found this out last week. So, he hasn’t been able to grasp that he has another baby on the way,” explained Grow.

Grow added Gilmore was fearless and lived every day like it was his last.

“He was well prepared that if anything were to happen to him, he was ready. He wasn’t afraid of death or anything. He was like, ‘If I’m sending myself out knowing that I can get hurt or anything, then so be it. I lived.’ That was him,” noted Grow.

Gilmore was scheduled to marry his fiancé in December once his contract work ended in Louisiana.

“The praying sister that I am, I’m not going to let her go to a dark place. We’re not going to let her be alone. She’s going to need that time. It’s OK to cry. It’s OK to be a little angry because you don’t understand what happened. You don’t understand what is going on. You just know that God is in control of anything and everything that he does,” said Grow.

The investigation into the crash is ongoing.

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