Family of Hillsborough teen killed in DUI crash starting scholarship for UF medical students in her memory
Family of teen killed in DUI crash speaks out
Lexi Ringo, 16, was in the car with her mother on Friday, December 26, when a pickup truck driven by Dominic Frye, 21, ran a stop sign and T-boned their car. FOX 13's Evan Axelbank reports.
APOLLO BEACH, Fla. - Lexi Ringo, 16, was in the car with her mother on Friday, December 26, when a pickup truck driven by Dominic Frye, 21, ran a stop sign and T-boned their car.
Deputies with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said Frye was drunk at the time of the crash.
"Hold your kids tight," said Tim Ringo, the 16-year-old's father. "Love them."
The backstory:
Lexi Ringo, a student at Winthrop Prep in Riverview, was a passenger in her mom's car on North 30th Street, just three miles from her home, when the pickup ran a stop sign at Covington Garden Drive and T-boned them.
Lexi was dead within an hour.
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"That's pretty fast to have your whole world ripped from you," said Lexi's mother, Chrissy.
What they're saying:
Instead of focusing on the crash or who caused it, her parents said they'd rather focus on Lexi.
The 16-year-old was class president and an East Bay golf MVP. On top of that, Lexi was a volunteer at Sarasota Memorial Hospital, Metropolitan Ministries and the First Tee.
She was an honors student who planned on becoming an orthopedic surgeon.
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"She really wanted to achieve," said Chrissy. "To be the best, be at the top, be the number one, but also, she really enjoyed helping people."
All of that leads her mother to conclude: "I'm not ready to stop being her mom."
Dig deeper:
As they begin to navigate their new life and purpose, they even have new reasons to be proud of Lexi. Several of her classmates shared stories with her parents.
"One of them brought up how he felt marginalized," said Tim. "He wasn't a cool kid and all this other stuff. And he's known Lexi for eight years, and she always made him feel special."
They've lost so much, and so has everyone who had the honor of knowing her.
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"She was a gift from God for 16 years," said Tim.
What's next:
The family — including her brother Brandon — is raising money to fund a scholarship that will help future doctors in medical school at the University of Florida.
"We can turn this around, and we can still be a part of making sure Lexi is memorialized in a meaningful way," Chrissy said.
Family also has a message for everyone going out on New Year's Eve: Don't do something that can't be taken back, and that will change a lot of lives forever.
The suspect is out on bond after being charged with vehicular manslaughter.
The Source: The information in the story was gathered by FOX 13's Evan Axelbank through an interview with the parents of Lexi Ringo.