St Petersburg Auto Accident Attorney

Around the region for Aug. 5, 2011

A Dixie County man was seriously injured and his passenger killed in a single-vehicle crash Wednesday near Chiefland.

The Florida Highway Patrol said the accident happened around 11:30 a.m. on U.S. 19 about 1.5 miles north of Chiefland.

Trooper Jesse R. Moore said two Cross City men were inside a 2005 Ford Ranger when it overturned. The driver, Daniel W. Welch, 54, was taken to Shands at the University of Florida in serious condition. Welch’s only passenger, Ronald Cleo Chalker, 75, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Moore said it appeared Welch was northbound in the right lane when he lost control of the Ranger. The vehicle crossed both lanes and rolled over before coming to a stop in the southbound lanes facing southwest.

Charges are pending.

— Karen Voyles

Man accidentally shoots, kills self

ST. PETERSBURG — Authorities say a Tampa Bay area man accidentally shot and killed himself.

St. Petersburg police say 50-year-old Wilfredo LaFontaine was on the phone with his girlfriend Wednesday as they were preparing to move out of their apartment. The girlfriend was in the leasing office of Tamarind Bay Apartments to return their keys when she heard a stumble and a pop over the phone.

Police say the girlfriend and a leasing agent rushed back to the apartment, where they found LaFontaine slumped against the door with a gunshot wound to his chest. He was still alive when officers and paramedics arrived. Police say he indicated that he had been preparing to clean his revolver.

LaFontaine was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died. Investigators deemed the shooting an accident.

— The Associated Press

Four sentenced in dual ’09 slayings

PENSACOLA — Four suspects who cooperated with prosecutors following the 2009 slayings of a Pensacola couple have been sentenced to more than 15 years each in prison.

The men were sentenced on Thursday for their roles in the deaths of Byrd and Melanie Billings.

The four testified or gave evidence used against three other men who were convicted in separate jury trials. One man was sentenced to death and two others were given life sentences.

Prosecutors said the seven men dressed in black, ninja-style garb and drove to the wealthy couple’s home in the dark of night with a plan to steal a safe they mistakenly thought had more than $1 million in cash. The men shot and killed the couple while their nine adopted, special-needs children were in the home.

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