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By JACKIE RIPLEY
© St. Petersburg Times, published November 29, 2000
TAMPA -- A young mother out for an afternoon stroll with her infant daughter was struck and killed Tuesday by a teenage driver. The baby survived.
Michele Lee Calta, 26, was walking along Branch Mooring Drive when a blue Mitsubishi Eclipse rounded the corner about 1 p.m. and struck her and the stroller carrying her 1-month-old daughter, sheriff's officials said.
"The car came through the intersection and hit the baby buggy," said Hillsborough sheriff's Sgt. Joe Howlett. "The mother hit the front of the car and the windshield."
The baby girl, whose name was not released, had been strapped in a car seat that was propped up in the stroller. The impact sent the seat flying to the pavement. Except for some bruising to her forehead, the infant was unharmed, Howlett said.
Calta, of 11808 Branch Mooring Drive, died at the scene.
Deputies identified the car's driver as Calta's neighbor, 17-year-old Richard David Delrio of 11710 Branch Mooring Drive, a senior at Sickles High School. They would not say whether Delrio was speeding or ran the stop sign. No charges have been filed, but an investigation is continuing.
The accident occurred in the Countryway subdivision, west of the Town 'N Country area.
As sheriff's officials questioned Delrio after the accident, family members, neighbors and a young woman identified as Delrio's girlfriend stood nearby.
Officials said the young woman was holding the baby when the first deputy arrived. They said she ran to the scene and picked up the baby after Delrio ran to his home to tell her what had happened. The baby was returned to her father after being examined by emergency medical workers.
Deputies did not identify the baby's father.
No one responded at Calta's home, and a person who answered the phone there declined to talk to a reporter.
No one answered the door at Delrio's home.
Later Tuesday afternoon, sheriff's deputies re-enacted the accident, driving Delrio's car up to the stop sign at Whispering Hollow Drive before turning left onto Branch Mooring Drive. They also appeared to be checking whether a hedge planted around the street sign at the intersection prevented a clear view of Branch Mooring.
Neighbors said speeding has been a problem in the area.
"Everybody said this was going to happen someday," said George Cernansky, who lives in Countryway.
Miguel Santos, 18, a friend of Delrio's, described Delrio as "a computer genius."
"He's real high in math and computer skills," Rodriguez said. "School's his life."
Other neighbors shook their heads at the tragedy.
"The only Christmas that baby's going to get is having her mother killed and taken away from her," said Shawna Cassidy.
- Jackie Ripley can be reached at (813) 226-3468 or ripley@sptimes.com.