Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Skyway wrecks kill 2, injure 1

Authorities say a man who was fleeing a wreck and traveling the wrong way on the bridge caused the two accidents.

By KEVIN GRAHAM and JAMIE THOMPSON
Published February 25, 2005

TAMPA - Erica L. Reed wanted nothing but the best for her newborn son.

Less than a month after giving birth, she was back at work with two jobs. Full time for a Tampa insurance company as a sales agent. Part time as a hostess for a Bradenton restaurant.

But the long hours would soon end. Another insurance company had offered Reed more money, and the single mother looked forward to starting the new job on Monday and spending more time with her son, Anthony Devon William Reed.

Instead, he will never know his mother.

Early Thursday, a man fleeing an accident drove the wrong way on the Sunshine Skyway bridge and slammed head on into Reed's car as she drove home from work. Reed, 27, and the man who hit her died at the scene.

"She was hard-working," said Reed's sister, Monica Williams. Her second job "was something to do to keep the bills paid up until she was able to get this other job on Monday. She would have been set up after that."

Trooper Larry Coggins, Florida Highway Patrol spokesman, said Joel C. Melody, 25, of 10130 Yacht Club Drive, Treasure Island, crashed his Jeep Grand Cherokee head on into Reed's Nissan Maxima.

After Melody hit Reed, of 3157 Diamond Knot Circle, Tampa, he hit the front end of a Buick LeSabre driven by Tammy A. Webb, 27, of 5824 S Sixth St., Tampa. Webb was listed in serious condition at Bayfront Medical Center, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Melody had been involved in a earlier accident in St. Petersburg, Coggins said, and had fled the scene.

Butch Rinard Jr., 47, was gliding toward a stoplight at Interstate 275 and 54th Avenue S in St. Petersburg when he saw Melody traveling in the wrong lane toward him sometime before 2 a.m.

Melody slammed into the back of his Toyota Celica, spinning it around. Rinard thought Melody was going to stop, but he recovered and continued on I-275 toward the Skyway.

Angry, Rinard chased behind, wanting to get the license number.

Rinard followed Melody toward the Skyway, and didn't realize he was traveling south in the northbound lanes until he saw the toll booth on the other side of the road, Rinard said.

He got behind Melody, traveling about 85 mph, and copied his license plate. Oncoming traffic swerved out of the way, Rinard said. Rinard pulled beside Melody. He honked his horn, flashed his lights, told him to pull over.

Melody glanced over just once.

"He had kind of a blank look," Rinard said. "I saw no anger, no nothing. I saw no recollection of the accident, or even any emotion toward me. He looked over, then continued on."

Rinard said he pulled in front of Melody and started to decelerate, hoping to slow him down. But he said Melody just inched closer.

Rinard decided to pull off at the northbound rest stop exit, about 40 seconds after the chase began.

"I figured I wasn't going to go over the Skyway and chance it," said Rinard, of St. Petersburg.

He spotted a state trooper at the rest stop and told him a man was heading the wrong way up the bridge.

The trooper sped off, and Rinard stood beneath a full moon, watching the bridge. He saw a stream of car headlights racing across the bridge, then suddenly, without a sound, they stopped.

Then the sirens began to wail, and Rinard knew what had happened.

Reed was the youngest of three daughters born to Clark and Elflora Reed. Her middle sister, Monica Williams, described Reed as the most organized of the siblings. She was funny but had a serious side, Williams said. Since Anthony's birth, Reed was starting to change, her sister said.

"Before, you're a single person and it's all about you," Williams said. "Then, when you have the baby, it kicks in that it's no longer about you. That's why she decided to get the new job. She knew that it was more than just her that she had to feed and support."

Reed graduated high school from Tampa Bay Tech and then began working for Bankers Life and Casualty insurance company.

Elizabeth Ovitt started work for Bankers Life and Casualty on the same day as Reed three years ago.

"We were pretty much best friends," Ovitt said. "She was the one I could tell anything to without being judged."

Melody was cited for careless driving, a seat belt violation and an expired tag in June 2003 in Palm Beach County, according to state records. He was convicted and received three points on his license for the careless driving charge, records show. His driving record also includes a citation for speeding in 1999, 80 in a 60 mph zone.

Melody's relatives declined to comment. "Are you kidding? We're grieving," said a woman who answered the phone on Thursday.

Melody's mother died within the last two weeks, said Coggins. Melody's mother, 46-year-old Debby Angelo, owned her own day care center and Yesterday's Cafe in Treasure Island.

Times researcher Kitty Bennett contributed to this report. Kevin Graham can be reached at 813 226-3433 or kgraham@sptimes.com

[Last modified February 25, 2005, 00:51:16]