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Where are they now?

A look at the key players in St. Petersburg's 1996 race riots.

By JON WILSON
Published October 21, 2006

James Knight

Then: Community police officer who shot TyRon Lewis. A grand jury declined to indict Knight, whom police administrators suspended for 60 days for violating departmental training guidelines. An arbitrator later exonerated Knight and overturned the suspension.

Now: The 44-year-old Knight is a St. Petersburg patrol officer assigned to areas north of Central Avenue.

Sandra L. Minor. Then: Community police officer and acting sergeant who was working as Knight’s partner on the day of shooting. A grand jury found that she performed her duties properly during the shooting.

Now: Minor, 45, is a St. Petersburg patrol officer assigned to downtown.

Eugene Young. Then: A passenger in Lewis’s car during the shooting, in which he was not injured.

Now: Young, 27, has come to the attention of police more than 40 times, records show. He was charged with armed robbery in August 2005 and has been sentenced to serve five years in Washington Correctional Institution, a facility near Chipley in the Florida Panhandle.

David Fischer. Then: St. Petersburg’s mayor, serving until 2001.

Now: Fischer, 73, is CEO of the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay, a nonprofit that organizes philanthropic giving.

Darrel Stephens. Then: Police chief during the civil disorder, Stephens was promoted to city administrator in 1997 and left in 1999 to become chief in Charlotte-Mecklenburg N.C.

Now: Stephens, 59, remains chief of the North Carolina department.

[Last modified October 21, 2006, 19:13:33]