Photo by: tampa bay
Prosecutors have dismissed the criminal case against a man police arrested on two charges of vehicular homicide after he ran a red light and killed two people in St. Petersburg late last year.
Owen Gardner Whittaker, 21, was arrested the day of the Dec. 9 crash on Fourth Street North at 72nd Avenue North. St. Petersburg police said Whittaker had been driving at 72 mph in a 45-mph zone when he ran a red light while making an Uber Eats delivery.
His northbound Toyota Corolla was hit by a Mazda whose driver was making a left turn from southbound Fourth Street North onto 72nd Avenue North. That driver had a green light at the time, police reports state.
This caused Whittaker’s car to spin out of control and hit a pole and crosswalk signal. Whittaker told police he couldn’t see what he hit as his car was spinning, but he ended up hitting a pedestrian and a bicyclist.
The bicyclist, Ronald Scott Kimball, 62, died at the scene. The pedestrian, Alicia “Ann” Prather, who was also 62, later died at a hospital.
Whittaker was arrested on two counts of vehicular homicide, then released on $15,000 bail. He pleaded not guilty via his attorney.
Whittaker’s charges were dismissed on Feb. 7 by the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney’s Office.
All Whittaker now faces in connection with the crash is a $264 traffic ticket for running the red light, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
Prather’s son, Maurice Dempsey, 34, and her daughter-in-law, Amanda Dempsey, said they’re upset with the state’s decision not to pursue the case.
“Are we supposed to just give up and allow him to do it again?” said Amanda Dempsey, 34. “I get that people speed all the time, but people don’t take lives when they do that. And when you do, there should be repercussions.”
Amanda Dempsey said she and her husband had been calling St. Petersburg police and the state attorney’s office for updates on the case since December. She didn’t hear back from police until Feb. 21, two weeks after the charges against Whittaker were dismissed.
Maurice Dempsey said detectives didn’t give much of a reason for the decision. “Just not enough evidence,” he recalled them saying.
After St. Petersburg police told Amanda Dempsey the charges were dropped, she and her husband set up a meeting with prosecutors. She said they apologized for not telling her the charges were dismissed but said they couldn’t take the case to trial because they couldn’t prove criminal intent.
“It was like a slap in the face,” Amanda Dempsey said. “They watched me cry and spoke over me. The reason we’re pissed is because they never reached out to us. And now we’re trying to tell them how we feel and they won’t let us speak.”
Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bruce Bartlett said one reason his office isn’t pursuing the case is because Whittaker was not under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time of the crash.
“My assessment was, it’s a tragic incident where two people got killed but it was an accident,” Bartlett said. “There was some excessive speed, over the speed limit, but no more than most people drive down the road.”
Bartlett said he didn’t feel Whittaker deserved to face 10 or more years in prison for running a red light. He added that Whittaker was an “exemplary student in school,” had just started his own business and had taken the Uber Eats job to earn extra money.
“I personally have looked at hundreds of these things, and I tend to err on the side of caution. If I’m having trouble with it, a jury is going to have trouble with it,” Bartlett said.
Asked about how the state attorney’s office communicated with the family, Bartlett said, “We must’ve talked to them in the very beginning,” but added that the original prosecutor left midinvestigation, which may have led to the miscommunication.
Bartlett said police should have consulted with his office before arresting Whittaker.
“I was a little surprised that they made an arrest on him (Whittaker). Generally, they confer with us because we have a group of assistants that are available to go out at any time,” Bartlett said.
Amanda Dempsey said when she met with the state attorney’s office, one of the main reasons they gave for not charging Whittaker was that he was young andhad no prior criminal record.
According to court records, Whittaker previously was issued a careless driving citation on Nov. 11, 2022, where he pleaded no contest, paid a fine and took a driving course. On Aug. 5, 2023, he was issued a citation for failing to follow a traffic control device; he pleaded guilty and paid a fine.
The Tampa Bay Times reached out to Whittaker and his lawyer, Luke Lirot, multiple times for comment but did not hear back.
“There are no repercussions for what happened. He’s out there and he can still drive,” Amanda Dempsey said.
Ann Prather was a full-time caregiver for her son Bernard, who has a learning disability. She took care of the cooking and cleaning, took him to his appointments and gave him his medicine.
“He has never been without her for anything at all,” Amanda Dempsey said.
She had two sons and two grandsons whomshe loved spending time with. Dempsey said when Prather’s grandchildren found out about her passing, “it broke them down.”
Prather lived in Brookside Square Apartments in St. Petersburg, just a block from the intersection where she was killed. That day, she had just gotten off the bus after getting her son Maurice food from Burger King, Amanda Dempsey said.
Police said they were unsuccessful in locating family members for Ronald Kimball, the bicyclist who was killed in the crash, and an obituary for him said no relatives came forward. The Times was not able to find any loved ones to speak about his death. Police records listed him as homeless.
Amanda Dempsey recalled being in shock after she and her husband got off a call with St. Petersburg detectives. They had previously told her that with witness statements and video footage, they had a strong case against Whittaker.
A spokesperson for the St. Petersburg Police Department said the state attorney’s decision is simply a part of the judicial process.
“Our officers investigated the case and made the arrest based on good faith. Officers believed there was probable cause at the time,” spokesperson Ken Knight said.
“Then it became up to the state attorney’s office to make the final decision to take the case to court or not. The state attorney’s office has a different burden of proof, and we respect their decision,” Knight said.
Amanda Dempsey says her family is still trying to find a way to get justice for their mother. In January, she and her husband filed an auto negligence lawsuit against Owen Whittaker and his father, Frank Whittaker, for over $100,000.
The lawsuit alleges that Owen Whittaker was on his phone and was “driving under the influence of alcohol and/or substances” at the time of the crash. The lawsuit also argues that Frank Whittaker should be held responsible because he owned the car that Owen Whittaker crashed.
In the lawsuit, the family is asking Owen Whittaker to admit that his negligence caused Prather’s death.
“At what point do we admit the justice system is flawed?” Amanda Dempsey said. “Because this is going to keep happening to people. People are going to keep dying and people are going to walk free. That’s the message this is sending.”
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Source: tampabay
