A Mississippi man was charged September 17 with DUI manslaughter and other counts stemming from the death of a Macclenny woman and her unborn child in a late night accident on March 29 of this year.
The Florida Highway Patrol completed a homicide investigation and submitted the results to the state attorney’s office in the case against Randall Hunter Morrow, 25, of Courtland, MS.
Mr. Morrow, an industrial welder, was driving a 2007 Dodge utility truck east on Andrews St. in Glen St. Mary when it ran a stop sign at CR 125 and slammed into a northbound 2004 Toyota driven by Virginia Kirk, also 25.
The impact killed Ms. Kirk, a Northeast Florida State Hospital aide who just ended her evening shift.
The accident occurred just before midnight when Mr. Morrow and a co-worker left the nearby residence of acquaintance Clinton Harvey. They were returning to a motel near Jacksonville airport.
The charges include DUI manslaughter for Ms. Kirk’s death, vehicular homicide for the death of the unborn child, DUI impairment and DUI with injury or property damage.Ms. Kirk, the mother of three who family members said was dedicated to her children, was en route to her mother’s off CR 127 to pick them up.
The FHP report indicates Mr. Morrow, who admitted he was unfamiliar with the neighborhood, left the Harvey residence on Andrews moments before and was going 40 mph when his truck entered the intersection. The speed limit there is 15 mph.
His blood alcohol level shortly after measured .128, above the limit of .08 for intoxication. He admitted he and passenger Gregory Calvert, 29, of Crowder, MS had been drinking that night at Calendar’s Pizza and the Harvey residence.
Both he and Mr. Calvert were uninjured and wearing seat belts. Ms. Kirk was not.
In another filing last week, this one on September 18, a Macclenny man cleared earlier this year by a grand jury in the shooting death of his girlfriend’s son was charged with drunk driving in an injury accident.
Frank D. (Doug) Kilgo, 56, was at the wheel of an SUV that turned into the path of a northbound vehicle at the intersection of SRs 121 and 228 north of Macclenny the evening of August 6.
His blood alcohol level at the time was .236, about three times the limit.
In a third filing earlier this month, G.W. Jefferson of Hilliard was charged with DUI resulting in an injury to his brother, a passenger in his vehicle when it slammed into a tree on Crews Rd. late on July 14 or early the next morning.
His blood alcohol at the time was .148.