Victims identified in deadly Ybor City crash
FOX 13’s Evan Axelbank shares the names of the victims who sadly died after a driver lost control of his car and crashed into the side of Bradley’s on 7th early Saturday morning.
TAMPA, Fla. – The four victims who died in the deadly Ybor City crash over the weekend have been identified.
Christina Richards, 25; Lisa Johnson, 41; Sherman Jones, 53; and Marlon Collins, 53; were killed after a driver lost control of his car and crashed into the side of Bradley’s on 7th early on Saturday morning.
Bradley’s is set to open for the first time since the incident on Monday with a memorial now at the front entrance. The Ybor City bar is considered a pillar in the Tampa gay community, but police don’t believe it was a targeted act.
The backstory:
The driver, 22-year-old Silas Sampson, is accused of ramming into a massive crowd outside Bradley’s on 7th, located in the 1500 block of East 7th Avenue in Ybor City. More than a dozen people were hit outside the business, officials said.Â
Silas Sampson during first court appearance in Hillsborough County.Â
Before the crash, though, authorities said Tampa police officers spotted two vehicles racing near Hanna Avenue and Nebraska Avenue at around 12:30 a.m. on Saturday. They proceeded westbound on Hillsborough Avenue when one of the vehicles drove onto I-275 Southbound.Â
TPD’s air unit tracked it as it then exited downtown. Florida Highway Patrol troopers joined in and tracked the vehicle to Nebraska Avenue and Palm Avenue, where they attempted a PIT maneuver.Â
Despite that, TPD said the vehicle proceeded down Ybor City’s busy 7th Avenue when the vehicle lost control and plowed into the crowd outside Bradley’s on 7th.Â
The crash rattled the community, and a vigil for the victims on Saturday night drew so many people that police had to shut down the area to traffic.
Sampson appeared virtually in court Sunday morning where the Hillsborough State Attorney’s Office filed a motion to keep the Ybor City crash suspect in custody, citing that he poses a danger to the community.
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What they’re saying:
“You’re asleep and next thing you know there’s a knock on your door, and you find out that your child’s life has been changed or ended,” said Tampa Mayor Jane Castor.
The mayor spent part of the day visiting those who had survived.
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The city is now facing questions about whether anything can be done to keep pedestrians safer in Ybor City. Castor seems hesitant to close down 7th Avenue to vehicles during the busiest times, because she is concerned it would allow late night gatherings to fester after the bars close.
The city is considering adding barriers on certain corners, but it’s unlikely — the mayor says — they would have made a difference in this case. The angle the car took, and the potential it was going 60 miles per hour by some estimates, make it unlikely those devices would have successfully blocked the car.
“When tragedy occurs, the first thing a lot of people want to do is pull out the finger of blame,” said Castor. “And that finger of blame can be pointed directly at the driver.”
Castor also said she would not second-guess the troopers who chased and tried several times to stop Sampson’s speeding car. The crash likely happened, according to the mayor, because Sampson tried to avoid a car that was making a legal turn.
“Nobody was in that person’s brain,” said Tampa councilor Alan Clendenin. “They could not have second guessed where that person, and at the speed, that he was going.”
What’s next:
Sampson’s next hearing is set for Thursday at 9:30 a.m. where the court will decide if he will get bond. In the meantime, the Florida Highway Patrol is asking people who saw the crash to give them a call by dialing *FHP.Â
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The Source: Information for this story was provided by Tampa police and previous FOX 13 reports.