University of Wisconsin assistant basketball coach’s wife and daughter killed in head-on collision

A fatal car crash on Saturday took the lives of the wife and daughter of University of Wisconsin assistant basketball coach Howard Moore, leaving the school in mourning.

Jennifer Moore, 46 and daughter Jaidyn, 9, were killed in the head-on crash with a vehicle driving the wrong way at about 2 a.m., near Ann Arbor, Mich., about 40 minutes west of Detroit, according to the Michigan State Police. The family was headed to the city, which is Moore’s hometown, for the holiday weekend.

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According to reports, the vehicle that struck the Moore family car was traveling westbound in the eastbound of a major highway. Jaidyn was reported dead at the scene while her mother was transported to University of Michigan Hospital, but was taken off life support Saturday afternoon.

Moore, 46, and son Jerell, 13, survived the crash with non-life threatening injuries, and were also treated at U-M Hospital, according to The Detroit News.

According to authorities, 23-year-old Samantha Winchester, was driving the vehicle that struck the Moore family’s car. Winchester was also killed and a toxicology report is pending.

Moore, whose coaching career stretches back 19 years is a longtime coach of the Wisconsin Badgers. He first coached the team from 2005-10 and returned in 2015. He is a Wisconson alum who graduated in 1995, and played 47 games for the team during his college career.

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Jennifer and Howard Moore met as students at U-W, according to The News. But she returned to the Detroit area to finish her education, also earning a master’s degree in engineering from the University of Illinois-Chicago. They married in 2003 and began raising their family in Wisconsin.

She was known for her charitable efforts in the Madison, Wisc., area through The Moore Foundation, which the family founded to give back to the community. Last November, she also created a social media campaign to help a pregnant mom who was due last January.

Wisconsin basketball coach Greg Gard released a statement saying the school is grieving the devastating losses.

“Our basketball program is an extremely close family and we are all grieving for the Moore and Barnes families. Howard is so much more than a colleague and coach,” the statement read. “He and Jen and their children are dear friends to everyone they meet. Their positivity and energy lift up those around them. We will miss Jen and Jaidyn dearly and we will put our arms around Howard and Jerell and the entire family, giving them love and support during this unspeakable time.”