Former NFL first-round pick Jeff Gladney died in a car accident on Monday along with a passenger, and the identity of the woman has now been released.
The Dallas County Sheriff’s Department told TMZ on Tuesday that 26-year-old Mercedes Andrea Palacios also died in the crash. Gladney and Palacios had been dating.
A preliminary investigation determined that one vehicle was speeding when it clipped a second vehicle from behind at the time of the crash. The vehicle that was traveling at a high rate of speed struck a pier beam on the freeway and flipped over. Both Gladney and Palacios were dead when officers arrived at the scene.
Neither of the two people in the second vehicle were seriously injured.
Gladney, a former TCU star, was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He played in all 16 games as a rookie but was cut prior to the 2021 season in the wake of domestic violence allegations. He was indicted for domestic violence in August 2021 and found not guilty earlier this year. Gladney signed with the Arizona Cardinals less than a week later.
