Man charged in fatal crash

The accident killed a 13-year-old girl and injured her grandparents.

By AUSTIN BOGUES
Published June 29, 2007

BROOKSVILLE - Angela Stone said the most agonizing reminder that her daughter is gone is watching Shelby's three dogs pace the hallways looking for her. Sammie, Chaos, and Ruger "know that's something's wrong, " she said.

Shelby Hagman died on April 13, the day after a Dodge pickup plowed into the right side of the minivan she was riding in with her grandparents, Larry and Deborah Wynn of Brooksville. She was 13 years old.

The driver of the truck, Christopher Marcone, 24, of Brooksville was arrested Wednesday by the Florida Highway Patrol. He has been charged with DUI/manslaughter, vehicular homicide, and DUI with serious bodily injury and was being held on $59, 000 bail.

Marcone's truck failed to stop at a stop sign and collided with the Wynns' 2004 Kia van at the intersection of Park Ridge Road and Sherman Hills Boulevard, according to the FHP.

Reports show that Marcone's blood alcohol level was 0.207, more than twice the level at which a driver is presumed impaired.

Both of the Wynns were taken to Brooksville Regional Hospital with injuries after the accident, reports say.

Months after Shelby's death, the pain of her loss remains strong with her mother. Stone, now 32, was 18 when she had Shelby, and she said she had to grow up quickly as a single mother when her baby arrived.

Painful memories are everywhere of the sweet, carefree young girl. Stone said at family cookouts, Shelby liked to drive her cousins around in a tractor. "She was always playing the mommy, even though she was an only child, " Stone said.

After Stone and Shelby moved to Ocala with Stone's fiance in June 2006, Shelby's grades dropped. Stone agreed in January to let her stay temporarily with her grandparents in Brooksville so she could be with her friends at Parrott Middle School. "She was bringing all of her grades up from D's and F's to A's and B's, " Stone said.

Shelby wanted to be a crime scene investigator when she grew up.

With criminal charges being pressed against Marcone, Stone said that she doesn't know how to feel.

"My whole world was Shelby, " she said. "I can't let that change because she's gone now."

Austin Bogues can be reached at abogues@sptimes.com or 352-754-6117.

[Last modified June 28, 2007, 22:14:45]