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Published on Tuesday, November 2, 2004
in the Orlando Sentinel
DAYTONA BEACH -- A Tampa-area man was charged Monday with three felonies, including aggravated manslaughter and vehicular homicide, in connection with a traffic crash on Interstate 4 that killed a Florida Highway Patrol trooper last month.
Donald Williams, 38, of Seffner also was charged with fleeing or attempting to elude a law-enforcement officer in the Oct. 2 crash that killed Trooper Darryl Haywood. The office of State Attorney John Tanner, in the 7th Judicial Circuit, filed the charges Monday.
Williams, who has been in the St. Johns County jail since the fatal crash, has already been charged with a felony count of aggravated fleeing and eluding for a separate pursuit on I-95 that ended in that county. His attorney, Leon H. Jones of Tampa, could not be reached for comment Monday.
Prosecutors filed the new charges, alleging that Williams drove recklessly during the incident, which caused Haywood's fatal crash, according to the court documents.
On Oct. 2, Williams, who was driving a 1999 blue Suzuki motorcycle, and an unknown driver in a Porsche were speeding in the eastbound lanes of Interstate 4 just before 2 p.m., weaving in and out of traffic, according to investigative reports.
After hearing radio announcements about the two speeding vehicles, Haywood, 49, a four-year veteran of the FHP and a retired New York City homicide detective, spotted them on the highway near DeLand and tried to overtake them, according to reports.
Williams later admitted to investigators that he drove his already-speeding motorcycle even faster after spotting the trooper, according to an investigative report.
Before Haywood could overtake Williams' motorcycle, the patrol car had a tire blow out, causing the trooper to lose control of his vehicle and crash into a tree, the reports said.
At about 2:20 p.m., FHP Trooper Philip Delgado spotted Williams' motorcycle in St. Johns County, traveling north on I-95. Delgado tried to stop the motorcycle, but the Suzuki fled the trooper by driving more than 150 mph, according to reports.
Williams was spotted at a highway truck stop with a flat rear tire and was placed under arrest, the reports said.
The driver of the Porsche has never been identified, said Trooper Kim Miller, an FHP spokeswoman.