SANFORD, Fla. — The State Attorney’s Office for the 18th Circuit Court serving Seminole and Brevard counties on Tuesday filed two second-degree murder charges against Marquaious Tayvon Wheaton in connection with the July crash in Casselberry that killed two brothers, including a University of Central Florida assistant professor.
The State Attorney’s Office said in a statement that Seminole County prosecutors believe the evidence supports a conviction on stronger charges than vehicular homicide or third-degree murder.
Seminole County prosecutors will seek life sentences in the case, according to the State Attorney’s Office.
“We want him off our streets and out of the community for good,” State Attorney William Scheiner said in a statement.
Seminole County Sheriff’s Office aerial video shows a BMW sedan that authorities say Wheaton was driving weaving in and out of traffic recklessly on U.S. 17-92 through Casselberry on July 7. According to investigators, Wheaton was driving southbound, sometimes at speeds of more than 100 mph before his BMW struck the side of the vehicle that brothers Tyler and Christopher Marier brothers were in. The Marier brothers were killed in the accident.
Court documents show law enforcement agencies were conducting surveillance on Wheaton when investigators began following him on State Road 417.
Wheaton was on probation tied to a 2019-armed robbery conviction at the time of the fatal accident on July 7, so he also faces a separate violation-of-probation action in Seminole County, the State Attorney’s Office said. He served four years in prison in that case.
In his first appearance before a judge on July 10, his next court dates were scheduled for Aug. 24 in the probation violation case and Aug. 25 in the new charges.