By AMY HERDY

© St. Petersburg Times, published November 30, 1999

TAMPA -- Reunited after Thanksgiving, four University of South Florida students headed out for a fast-food run early Monday morning.

Wreckage of Leanna Dawson's 1986 Firebird. [Times photo: Jim Stem]

The driver had recently turned 19. Her friend, a freshman still coping with the recent death of a childhood friend, rode shotgun. Two male students, one who had just experienced his first American Thanksgiving, and an 18-year-old known for his good humor, were in the back seat.

As they returned to their dorms from McDonald's, a Cadillac blew through a red light near campus and slammed into the students' Firebird, witnesses said. "It looked like somebody dropped a bomb," said Hillsborough sheriff's traffic investigator Robert Corn.

Two students, 19-year-old Leanna Dawson of New Jersey and 20-year-old Majid Tahri of Morocco, were pronounced dead at the scene. A third, 18-year-old Jackie Ayala of New York, died later Monday at Tampa General Hospital. David Sanders, 18, of Wellington, survived. He was hospitalized late Monday in fair condition with a broken wrist and hand.

Driver's record includes violations, other crimes

The Cadillac driver, a man with a DUI conviction and a long history of driving offenses, also survived. Mitchell Houston James, 39, of Tampa remained hospitalized Monday night with a broken jaw.

Hillsborough sheriff's deputies said they found James lying across the floor of his 1979 Cadillac, his feet on the driver's side and his head resting on a carton of beer on the passenger floorboard.

Part of a 12-pack of Budweiser bottles was still cold, deputies said, and one opened bottle was nearly empty. A deputy at the scene said James' breath smelled of alcohol.

The accident is under investigation. A blood-alcohol test could take several days, investigators said.

Sanders' mother, Sara Harris, said the students were returning from McDonald's when the accident occurred about 1:30 a.m. She said her son does not remember the crash.

The students were riding in Dawson's 1986 Pontiac Firebird, and all were wearing seat belts, according to investigators. Dawson was traveling east on Fletcher Avenue at about 45 mph, witnesses told deputies, while James was traveling south on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard at 50 to 60 mph. James drove through the red light, witnesses said.

Accident took place at this intersection in Tampa, outside the northwest edge of the USF campus. [Times photo: Jim Stem]

"It was over in a second," said sheriff's Cpl. George Mosher.

At USF, crisis counselors came to dormitories to address what school officials called the worst tragedy in recent university history.

In a prepared statement, acting USF President Thomas Tighe said, "Today is a day of shock and grief" at the school. "We cannot imagine the depths of these families' pain today, though all of us . . . feel some portion of it."

At Gamma Hall, shocked students gathered to remember Dawson and Ayala, two lively girls whose sense of adventure often took them on road trips in Dawson's Firebird.

"They were both little girls (in stature), but they were so powerful," recalled Dawson's roommate, Jenny "Jimmy" Landram, 18.

"They could walk in a room and take control of any situation."

A birthday greeting at Leanna Dawson's dorm room on the Tampa campus of the University of South Florida. [Times photo: Jim Stem]

Dawson, a sophomore studying mass communications, had spent Thanksgiving with her father, said Petrina Dawson, her stepmother.

Friends of Ayala, a freshman majoring in geology, said the girl who went by the nickname "Jack" had endured a tough November. First, her family's dog died. Then, a week later, her best friend from childhood was killed in a car accident.

Despite the tragedies, her friends said, she remained upbeat and hopeful about life.

"Jack had a way of always making you see the best in things," remembered Talitha Callahan, 19.

At the south Tampa home of Tahri's aunt, Karyn Sbar, relatives mourned a young man who came to the United States in August and had just met the requirements to study finance at USF.

"He was the life of the party kind of person" who loved music and soccer, Sbar said. He had just bought his first car, she said, a Honda that he planned to pick up Monday.

Instead, his body is scheduled to be flown back to Morocco today for funeral services.

At his home in Seminole Heights, James' relatives defended him Monday as a family man who wept for the victims' families.

"He's a hard worker. He takes care of his family," said James' sister, Deborah James.

His wife, Sophia Williams, said James had eaten dinner with her and they had gone to the grocery before he headed back to the shop where he works as an auto mechanic.

"It broke his heart" to hear about the deaths of the students, Williams said. James has three sons, ages 8, 14 and 17, Williams said.

James and his family hold the deepest sympathies for the victims' families, said his sister, Yvonne Rivera.

"Please," she said, "don't make him look like a monster."

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