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Second driver in fatal hit-run sentenced

A witness has identified the driver of the first car to hit Sarah Landry, but authorities have not yet issued an arrest warrant.

By AARON SHAROCKMAN
Published April 28, 2006

LARGO - A St. Petersburg man was sentenced to 21 months in prison on Wednesday for leaving the scene of an accident where a 21-year-old woman crossing traffic was hit and killed.

Michael R. Huey, 37, was the second driver to strike the woman, Sarah Landry, along Seminole Boulevard in April 2004, according to authorities. The driver of the first car has not been identified.

Huey told investigators he knew he had hit something, but did not know it was a person. In Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court on Wednesday, Huey apologized to Landry's family.

"I am truly sorry for their loss and regret I had any part in this terrible tragedy," said Huey, reading a prepared statement.

As part of a plea agreement, Huey will lose his driver's license and also has agreed to pay more than $9,000 for funeral expenses.

"We stayed in the courtroom and watched him get fingerprinted," said Landry's father, William Landry, 50. "I wanted to see it - to have that satisfaction."

Huey, driving a 2000 Chevrolet pickup, was the second driver involved in the accident.

A first car knocked her down as she was crossing six lanes of traffic at night on Seminole Boulevard. Huey's truck then ran her over, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. She died at Largo Medical Center.

Unable to find the vehicles that hit Landry, family members raised a billboard at a nearby intersection pleading for someone to come forward.

More than a year later, a passenger in Huey's truck went to authorities.

The witness, who has not been identified, drove past the billboard each day as she headed to work. The billboard was posted on Seminole Boulevard, near Walsingham Road, and stood for a year.

"It just kept eating at her," said Landry's brother, Bill Hoopes.

Prosecutor Holly Osgood said Thursday the witness also identified the driver of the first car. But authorities have not yet issued a warrant for that person's arrest. Osgood said that person has fled the area. She would not identify the first driver.

Landry was born in Massachusetts, but was raised in Oldsmar. She attended East Lake High School and was a tomboy who worked on her own car, a red Ford Escort, and fished with the men, according to her family.

William Landry said at first his family rejected the plea agreement, but later changed their minds, fearing a prolonged court case. Huey's attorneys, Landry said, would argue Sarah Landry may have already been dead when she was hit a second time.

"And hitting a dead person isn't a crime," William Landry said prosecutors told him.

Huey's attorney, Brent Armstrong, did not return a call seeking comment.

"It's a victory," said Hoopes. "We didn't think we were going to get anybody anyway. Some justice has been served."

[Last modified April 28, 2006, 01:16:18]