PANAMA CITY — A local man was convicted of DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide on April 24.
Anthony Charles Hill Jr., 49, had a blood alcohol level 1.5 times the legal limit more than five hours after a fatal crash, according to a release from the State Attorney’s Office for the 14th Judicial Circuit.
On the evening of April 14, 2023, a car driven by Javis Whipple, 23, broke down near Cherry Lane and Bob Little Road in Springfield. Colby Williams, a friend of Whipple, came to help and parked behind him. Both vehicles were facing north on the side of the road with their headlights and hazard lights on, the State Attorney’s Office said.
Hill was driving south and crossed the center line of the road, hitting Whipple’s vehicle head-on, the release said. This caused Whipple’s vehicle to flip backward, hitting and killing the man before coming to a rest nearly 50 feet away. Hill’s vehicle then “plowed” into Williams’ vehicle.
The release said the car landed in a graveyard, which is likely the Callaway Cemetery based on the location of the incident.
“As I turned and looked, I see a white car in my peripheral vision and it just hit Javis’ car, it was so fast,” Williams said in the release. “I saw that he flipped Javis’ car over and hit my car and I see my friend laying on the ground. I screamed first and then called the police.”
Hill had been travelling at 60 mph on a road where the speed limit is 35 mph. The State Attorney’s Office said Hill had an estimated blood alcohol content of 0.23 at the time. The legal limit is 0.08. He denied having any alcohol at the time of the crash.
“Williams and other witnesses said Hill got out of his car wearing only a red pair of boxer shorts and repeatedly said he did not hit the Challenger and did not know what had happened,” the release said.
During the trial, Hill said his passenger was a woman he was having an affair with, and that he drank a large amount of alcohol after the crash because she was agitating him. He said he had just “made out” with the woman at a nearby park, but hadn’t drunk any alcohol.
Hill testified that he extited the car after the wreck and didn’t see anyone injured.
“That’s when I took the bottle and started drinking because she was about to drive me crazy,” Hill testified. “Just going on and on about her boyfriend finding out and she needed to get back to the house.”
A blood draw showed his blood alcohol content to be 0.114 to 0.115 five hours and 28 minutes after the wreck, according to the attorney’s office.
Hill is being held without bond in the Bay County Jail until his sentencing on May 28. An inmate lookup shows that he was booked into the facility on April 24, 2026.
DUI manslaughter is punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine in Florida.
This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Panama City man convicted of DUI manslaughter in fatal 2023 crash
Reporting by Dylan Gentile, Panama City News Herald / The News Herald
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
