While we're learning more about the man behind the wheel in a triple fatality early Thursday morning, the mother of one of the victims is speaking out.

Marcus Johnson was one of three University of Minnesota students killed early Thursday morning along the Interstate near Madison. His mother, Franchon Johnson, says Marcus' young life was taken way too soon.

"It's hard to say that he didn't suffer," his mother said. "It happened in ten seconds from a drunk driver."

Police said Johnson, 20, of Milwaukee, along with Elysia Rapp, 20, of Racine, and Wilfredo Ugarte, 23, of Puerto Rico were all killed when Bradley Erickson, 31, hit the back of their vehicle. The group was pulled off to the side of the Interstate as they were changing a flat tire.

Johnson's family said they're angry about Erickson's actions.

"Regardless of what it is -- murder is murder," Marcus' uncle, Elder Ron Games said.

Authorities have identified the three people killed in crash with a man suspected of drunken driving on Interstate 39/90 near Madison on Thursday.

The victims were identified as Marcus S. Johnson, 19, of Milwaukee, Elysia M. Rapp, 20, of Racine, and Wilfredo Ugarte, 23, of Puerto Rico. Two of the victims were identified as University of Minnesota students.

The Dane County Coroner's Office said that autopsies on all three victims were completed Thursday and that preliminary results indicate all three died as a direct result of injuries sustained in the crash.

The crash happened at about 2:30 a.m. in the Town of Burke when the driver, Bradley R. Erickson, 31, of Madison, rear-ended a disabled car parked on the median shoulder.

Dane County authorities said that three of the disabled car's five occupants were outside the car and two remained inside when the crash occurred.

Access to eastbound I-39/90/94 from High Crossing Boulevard on Madison’s Far East Side is open.

The ramp had been closed since spring to facilitate interstate work over Lien Road.