Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
FHP reports indicate that Shanna Jane West was responsible for the crash that killed a Dade City woman, but the Patrol is still waiting for blood test results.
By RYAN DAVIS and BRADY DENNIS
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 15, 2001
TAMPA -- A warrant has been issued for the arrest of the high-on-drugs driver involved in a November fatal accident -- but it has nothing to do with the deadly Land O'Lakes crash.
Hillsborough County authorities are searching for Shanna Jane West, 21, of Brandon because she stormed out of a courtroom last week before a judge could review her probation on a prior DUI charge.
But 16 weeks after West's car slammed head-on into a car on U.S. 41, killing 53-year-old passenger Barbara Mercer of Dade City, West has not been charged in that wreck.
Florida Highway Patrol accident reports indicate that she was responsible for the crash, and she has told the Times that she was high at the time on GHB, known as a date rape drug that causes euphoria as well as sedation.
FHP state spokesman Ken Howes said Wednesday that -- 113 days later -- his agency is still awaiting West's post-crash blood test results from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
The long wait has meant drawn-out grief for three men -- one father, two sons -- who now make up the Mercer family.
"I'm ready to get it behind us," said Lindy Mercer, Barbara's husband. "Every time this comes up, it opens wounds for the boys. We don't hold any anger, but the people who did this do have to do their time."
As a result of the fatal accident and the prior DUI, West's license was suspended Dec. 15 for the 11th time in a little more than three years.
The same day as the fatal wreck on U.S. 41, West had fallen asleep behind the wheel on Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa and had been charged with DUI. For that offense, last month she was given the standard sentence for a first-time DUI offender: probation, court fees, community service and a 180-day license suspension.
But after the judge learned from a Times reporter that West was involved in the fatal wreck immediately after the DUI and may have misstated her rehabilitation process, he ordered her to a review hearing March 6.
She showed up but left before her hearing. Court records indicate she "left in a rage -- couldn't wait."
Prosecutor Rick Leal said he left the courtroom briefly to check on her case. When he returned, West was gone, having slammed the courtroom doors on her way out.
A warrant was issued last Thursday for her arrest on the charge of failure to appear. The task of finding West and arresting her has been assigned to a Hillsborough County sheriff's detective.
"It's one of close to probably 100 that he's got in his hand, but we are definitely seeking her," spokesman Lt. Rod Reder said.
West could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Should West eventually be charged and convicted in the fatal wreck she has admitted to causing, authorities and activists have said that her guilty plea to the earlier DUI will likely lead to a harsher sentence than a first-time offender would receive.
Mary Dean, a victims' advocate with Mothers Against Drunk Driving in Lakeland, has spent time with the Mercers. She's hoping for their sake that charges will come soon, and with them, closure.
"It's very frustrating, especially for the victims," Dean said. "I'm hoping the blood tests come back so the criminal justice system can move forward. Lindy and them, they need this to move forward."