A crash victim asks at sentencing that the driver lose his freedom, while the man's family asks the judge to consider its pain.
By RICHARD RAEKE
Published March 25, 2004
NEW PORT RICHEY - At his sentencing Wednesday, Nicholas Demerie's family asked the judge to consider the pain that their family has suffered. They had lost a mother and an aunt in the "accident."
In January, a jury found Demerie guilty of three counts of vehicular homicide, two counts of reckless driving with injury and a single count of reckless driving. Demerie caused a fiery wreck that killed four people and maimed two others.
As the jury had determined that the crash was not an accident, Pasco-Pinellas Circuit Judge Daniel Diskey sentenced Demerie, 56, of New Port Richey, to 35 years in prison.
Witnesses at Demerie's trial said that around 8 p.m. on March 2, 2001, Demerie was drag racing his Camaro Z28 against a Corvette on State Road 54. Demerie approached speeds of 90 mph when he lost control of the car, crossed the median near Old State Road 54 and crashed into a Plymouth Caravelle driven by Miqucalena Zorbas.
The collision took the lives of Zorbas' sons, Robert, 14, and Anthony, 10, and family friend Deziree Pozzi, 4. The jury convicted Demerie of vehicular homicide in their deaths. The crash also killed Demerie's wife, Ann Marie, 49, for which the jury convicted him of reckless driving.
Zorbas, now 39, suffered more than 30 broken bones, a lacerated liver and kidney, and memory loss. Her niece, Tabitha Brooks, now 16, also suffered severe injuries and broken bones.
At the sentencing Zorbas said of Demerie, "Do not give him his life of freedom. He killed my babies."
Demerie's attorneys tried to argue during the trial that a faulty traction control system bears the blame for the wreck. Demerie's nephew and two daughters asked the judge to consider that their family had lost a loved one. Nicole Demerie said Zorbas could have more children but she lost a mother in the wreck.
When given his turn to speak, Demerie asked the spirit of Jesus Christ to fill the courtroom.
After the sentencing, Zorbas said, "I just cried relief. It wasn't anything but relief. He doesn't have his freedom. I feel better. I feel a bit more safer."
Since the crash, Zorbas, who lives in New Port Richey, had a daughter, Marisa Michaele, now 15 months old. She said she is reminded of the crash and her sons "every time I laugh and play with my daughter."
