MANATEE -- At first, Kieron James told investigators he had struck a tree near Southeast High School, causing damage to his girlfriend’s Kia.
But James then saw the Florida Highway Patrol tow the Kia away, to check it for evidence in the hit-and-run death of 5-year-old Kimora Samuel.
At 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, James turned himself in, telling authorities he was the one who fatally struck Kimora and injured her aunt, Richecar Polinice, according to Florida Highway Patrol.
On Thursday, James was incarcerated in the Manatee County jail and faced charges of leaving the scene of a crash involving a death, leaving the scene of a crash involving injuries and driving while license suspended. Bonds for those charges totaled $365,000, but he was also being held without bail after a bond for a previous arrest in driving with a suspended license was revoked.
James, who has been charged as a Manatee County “habitual traffic offender,” or HTO, refused to attend his first appearance before a judge.
Public defender Franklin Roberts was appointed to his defense.
By Thursday night, as news of his arrest had spread to DeSoto Village apartments, neighbors of Kimora’s grieving family mostly wanted to comment on James’ multiple arrests for driving with a revoked or suspended license.
“To have a road record like that and still be driving is unthinkable,” said DeSoto Village resident Anitra Braxton, who has a 4-year-old and 5-year-old grandchildren. “It could have been anyone’s child he hit.
“We need to pass some kind of law to keep these kind of drivers off the road,” Braxton said.
Crash details
The details of the crash, which were released by the Florida Highway Patrol on Thursday, will probably only intensify some of Braxton’s concerns.
A witness who was directly behind James when he pulled onto U.S. 41 from Mira Lagos Apartments, 358 34th Ave. Drive E., Bradenton, at 6:30 p.m. Monday, told authorities that James never stopped, according to a Florida Highway Patrol arrest report on James.
Kimora’s aunt, a tall girl, “rolled up onto the hood of the Kia and then off the driver’s side into the center turn lane,” the report states.
Witness statements and evidence indicated that Kimora was “knocked down and possibly dragged almost 70 feet away from the area of the collision,” the report states.
The evidence is consistent with the height of the two girls and the crash dynamics, the report adds.
“He hit her as if she were an animal,” Braxton said.
Two Florida Highway Patrol investigators, Darrell Carroll and David Brunner, made the case personal, said Lt. Chris Miller.
“They made this a top priority,” Miller said, indicating that Carroll has small children.
The pair found out that Mira Lagos had video of the front gate area, and Carroll and Brunner reviewed the digital camera and could see the Kia drive out, the arrest report states.
The apartment staff at Mira Lagos, described by Miller as being highly cooperative, told the investigators where the Kia was usually parked.
Once Carroll and Brunner found the car, they discovered that the left front wheel well and the left fender had fingerprints that looked like someone had recently attempted to repair or clean what looked like fresh damage, the report states.
There were also “fabric impressions” on the front fender and across the hood, the report adds.
After Carroll and Brunner had completed their investigation of the Kia, they talked to James.
James told them he had struck a tree near a friend’s house at Southeast High, but he couldn’t tell them the friend’s name or the address so that the investigators could find the tree, according to the arrest report.
Once the Kia was placed on a lift at Roy’s Automotive, Carroll and Brunner saw a small piece of fabric that was consistent with the outfit worn by Richecar, the report states.
Walking home from school
Kimora, a kindergarten student, was participating in 21st Century Learning at Orange Ridge-Bullock Elementary, where more than 200 children go to get tutoring, do homework, or take part in other learning activities.
She always walked home afterward with her mother, Sherley Mathieu, or Richecar, who had been designated by Mathieu as a representative of the family.
Mathieu, a nursing home assistant, had gone on a short shopping trip for her daughter Monday afternoon.
“Usually I go pick her up, but I said to my sister (Richecar) you go take care of her and I’m going to call a taxi, go to Walmart and get (presents),” Mathieu told the Bradenton Herald.
Many are ‘HTOs’
James has a criminal history dating back to at least 1991, with numerous arrests and convictions for drug possession and drug dealing, according to court records.
But it’s his numerous traffic offenses that have become an issue in the death of Kimora.
“Mr. James is an HTO,” said Lon Arend, chief assistant state attorney in Manatee County. “Manatee County has thousands of people who are HTOs.”
Typically, the state classifies drivers as HTOs when they have three or more instances of driving on a canceled, suspended or revoked license, Arend said.
In 1997, James was sentenced to six months of probation and fined $150 plus court costs after pleading guilty to driving with a suspended license.
In 2001, he was sentenced to 10 days in jail and fined $161 plus court costs for driving with a suspended license.
In 2005, he was sentenced to seven months in jail for driving as a habitual traffic offender and giving a false name.
Arend’s office has an open case against James for being stopped in 2010 with his license suspended, revoked or cancelled, Arend said. A Bradenton police officer had stopped James after seeing him run a stop sign.
“We are still actively pursuing the case from 2010,” Arend said.
A drug possession charge filed with the 2010 case was recently dismissed,
Arend said that HTOs are often able to post bond and that the maximum jail time they can get for the crime of being an HTO is five years.
“Higher bail,” Arend said when asked how HTOs could be kept off the streets.
