Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Another tragedy for '04 grads

John Govich, 18, died Friday, becoming the second Land O'Lakes High alum to be killed in a traffic accident last week.

By STEPHEN HEGARTY
Published June 14, 2005

A Land O'Lakes teen died after a one-car crash in Tampa, making him the second teen from the Land O'Lakes High Class of 2004 to die in a traffic accident in less than a week.

John Govich, 18, died Friday from injuries he received in a crash along Bearss Avenue the night before. Govich, known to friends and family as AJ, was a passenger in a truck driven by Matthew Walker, 20, of Dade City. Walker and another passenger, Pamela Johnson, 20, of Tampa, were injured in the wreck.

Just two days before that accident, Amanda Belcher, 19, died of injuries from an accident the previous day at U.S. 41 near Dupree Drive. Like Govich, she was a 2004 graduate of Land O'Lakes High.

The crash happened at about 9:20 Thursday night on Bearss near N 16th Street. Walker was driving a Dodge truck eastbound on Bearss not far from Interstate 275 when he apparently lost control of the vehicle around N 16th Street. The truck veered across the median into the westbound lane and then back. The truck eventually hit a stop sign and trees and came to rest against a fence.

Govich, who was sitting in the front seat on the passenger side, was ejected from the truck, said Debbie Carter of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

The accident report indicated that none of the three was wearing a seat belt. The report also indicated that drugs were a contributing factor in the crash, Carter said.

Carter said the cause of the crash was still being investigated and that charges were pending.

Govich's survivors include his father, John Govich, and his mother, Natalie. A funeral visitation will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at the Garden of Memories Funeral Home at 4207 E Blake Ave., Tampa.

[Last modified June 14, 2005, 01:25:21]