School crossing guard killed in St. Pete

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Instead of kids crossing 9th Avenue N at 2:30 in the afternoon, crime scene tape streamed across the roadway.

Just five minutes before students were released from Mount Vernon Elementary, their crossing guard was hit and killed.

"He already had the cones out. He was already prepared to greet the kids and get them across the street safely, and then he was struck," police spokeswoman Yolanda Fernandez explained.

Police say 72-year-old David Roundtree worked the corner of 9th and 43rd Street for several years.

"He's a very nice gentlemen," offered Jeff Bristow.  "He's always out there every day. He's always got a good word to say to everybody that comes by."

Monday afternoon, witnesses say a silver Toyota Scion heading west on 9th Avenue hit a pickup truck.  The driver then slammed into Roundtree, who was standing nearby, and kept going.

Witnesses called for help, but the crossing guard was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Police say the driver -- 21-year-old Charles Hunter Walton -- finally stopped his car a few blocks away, after hitting another truck.  He had an 18-year-old woman riding with him.

Walton was charged with DUI manslaughter.

Roundtree's daughter showed up to the crash site in tears.

"The daughter just buried her husband recently, and now she's about to bury her father."

A crossing guard that meant so much to his community, and one whose death will be felt by many.

"I mean, the kids loved him, he took care of them, and I can't believe something like this happened."