An August 2026 trial date has been tentatively scheduled for former Escambia County Sheriff’s Deputy Greg Nesmith, who is facing two counts of vehicular homicide after state troopers say he hit and killed two 20-year-olds who were crossing Perdido Key Drive in a crosswalk last July.
However, Nesmith has been dropped as a defendant in one of the two wrongful deaths lawsuits filed against him, and both lawsuits have been amended to include Florida Power & Light and Pensacola-based traffic signal contractor Ingram Signalization as defendants.
According to the Escambia Clerk of Court’s website, Nesmith’s attorney filed a motion to continue his criminal case to “allow for sufficient time to take depositions,” a request “made in good faith and not for purposes of delay.”
Nesmith’s next docket day is scheduled for 9 a.m. Aug. 4 with a jury trial scheduled for Aug. 17. He has pleaded not guilty to the vehicular homicide charges.
Nesmith is charged with the deaths of 20-year-olds Nicole Moore and Jackson Cunningham of the Birmingham, Alabama, area.
The Florida Highway Patrol says the two friends were hit and killed around 3 a.m. on July 5 while they were in the crosswalk at the intersection of Perdido Key Drive and River Road, headed to the beach to go crabbing.
They were with two other friends who were not injured.
State troopers say Nesmith was speeding, and his car data shows he was going 74 mph five seconds before the collision.
He hit the brakes when he saw them at the last minute, he told FHP. The posted speed limit is 45 mph.
The Florida Highway Patrol also says Nesmith failed to stop for an oncoming emergency vehicle, an ambulance that approached the crosswalk from the opposite direction as the four friends were walking through it around the same time Nesmith was approaching.
Police say the lights from the ambulance made it difficult for Nesmith to see the pedestrians.
Nesmith was in an unmarked Escambia Sheriff’s patrol vehicle at the time of the fatal accident but was off-duty, having just left a Sheriff’s Office-approved, off-duty security detail at the Flora-Bama Lounge.
Nesmith retired from the Sheriff’s Office shortly after the incident.
Wrongful death lawsuits include FPL, Ingram Signalization
The families of both victims filed separate wrongful death lawsuits against Nesmith, but Nicole’s mother, Stephanie Moore who filed on her daughter’s behalf, filed a motion on May 5 to voluntarily dismiss her complaint against Nesmith, noting “all claims against defendants Florida Power and Light and Ingram Signalization remain pending.”
The wrongful death lawsuit filed by Leslie Cunningham, Jackson’s father, still names Nesmith as a defendant, but both lawsuits have been amended to name Florida Power & Light (FPL) and Ingram Signalization as defendants.
According to Cunningham’s lawsuit, FPL has been named a defendant due to a “non-functioning streetlight” at the crosswalk owned and operated by FPL.
The suit says due to the non-functioning streetlight visibility was reduced at the intersection and FPL and its contractor, Ingram Signalization, were negligent in “their obligation to provide adequate lighting at the intersection.”
FPL has not yet filed a response in Moore’s lawsuit, but in court documents in Cunningham’s case, FPL denies any negligence or role in the wrongful death claim.
Attorneys for the company gave several reasons in its defense, including that Jackson is “greater than fifty percent at fault for his own harm and damages” because he was drinking alcohol.
“Plaintiffs’ decedent Jackson Presley Cunningham was impaired alcohol and/or had a blood-alcohol level of 0.08% or higher at the time of the incident,” FPL’s attorney wrote. “Pursuant to Florida law…if the trier of fact finds that Plaintiffs’ decedent was under the influence of alcoholic beverages to the extent that his normal faculties were impaired, or that he had a blood-alcohol level of 0.08% or higher, and that such impairment was a contributing cause of the accident, then Plaintiffs are barred from recovering damages.”
According to FHP, toxicology reports showed that Cunningham tested positive for alcohol, cocaine and cannabinoids. Moore tested positive for alcohol, and Nesmith tested positive for Diazepam (an anxiety medication) and Nordiazepam, an active metabolite of Diazepam.
Moore’s attorney has filed motions for FPL and Ingram to produce documents related to the lighting at the crosswalk, including maintenance records and inspection logs.
“Because this matter involves pending litigation, Florida Power & Light Company cannot comment on the allegations,” said FPL spokesperson Kimberly Blair.
Ingram has also not yet filed motions in response to the allegations in court records, and an email requesting comment was sent to Ingram but there was no response by deadline.
Calls seeking comment from the respective attorneys of Nesmith and the plaintiffs were not returned.
In court documents, FPL is demanding a trial by jury.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Deputy accused of vehicular homicide dropped from one lawsuit, FPL added
Reporting by Mollye Barrows, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
