Man attempts to chase down girlfriend, rams random couple's car into concrete pole, killing woman: SPPD

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla - A man who St. Petersburg police say was trying to chase down his girlfriend has been charged with first-degree murder after he assumed she was in a Honda Accord that he saw and intentionally forced it off the road and into a concrete pole.

Inside the Honda was an innocent couple heading to Walmart on Sunday night.

Courtesy: St. Pete Police Department.

Arislenni Blanco, 28, died at the scene and her boyfriend, Norbelis Figueredo-Campos, was taken to the hospital in critical condition.

The man behind bars is 33-year-old Kyle Hill of Pinellas Park. His charges were upgraded from DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide to first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.

Courtesy: St. Pete Police Department.

The backstory:

During a press conference on Wednesday, Police Chief Anthony Holloway said that this all began after an argument between Hill and his ex-girlfriend shortly before 8 p.m. Sunday. She left in a friend's car.

Hill then hopped in his Nissan SUV to go find her. While driving south on 34th Street near 30th Avenue N., he saw a Honda and assumed it was his ex-girlfriend, police said.

Courtesy: St. Pete Police Department.

He then called his girlfriend, threatened her, and chased the car he thought she was in for several blocks.

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"While chasing a car, he called her again and said, ‘I got you. I'm going to kill you, your friend and myself,’" Holloway said. "But, it gets worse from there. The car that he was chasing was not his girlfriend's car."

Police said the innocent couple tried getting away from Hill, but as the two cars approached 17th Avenue N., he forced them off the road and onto a sidewalk.

The Honda then hit a concrete pole, causing the pole to snap and crush the couple’s car, investigators said.

A memorial on the road where the couple were killed.

Hill ended up losing control of his Nissan and hit a tree a short time later. His alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit, according to police.

Holloway said the victims’ car was the same make and model as the car Hill’s ex-girlfriend was in, but a different color.

What they're saying:

Figueredo-Campos and Blanco-Medina’s families were at Wednesday’s press conference. They said Blanco-Medina moved here from Cuba a few months ago to be with her boyfriend, Figueredo-Campos, who moved here a year and a half ago.

Arislenni Blanco-Medina and Norbelis Figueredo-Campos.

"His dream, obviously, was to bring his girlfriend, his partner, here with him so she could provide for her daughter and her parents in Cuba," Clara Figueredo, Figueredo-Campos’s aunt, said through a cousin who was translating. "They were very ambitious when they got here."

Blanco-Medina was also on the phone with her nine-year-old daughter and her dad in Cuba as they tried to get away from Hill, police said.

Aramis Blanco, Blanco-Medina's brother, said her sister’s last words to them were that Hill was going to kill her.

"He said that, along with what Norbelis’ aunt said about their dreams and aspirations … their family wants to send her whole body to Cuba and not in ashes, but that is too much money and, from our intel, not possible. But, if they can’t do that, to at least get justice and make sure he pays for what he did," Aramis Blanco said.

"She was always happy, always lovable, never, ever dull," said Nicole Galvan, Figueredo-Campos’s cousin. "You would go to her house, and you would always hear music, and she would always be dancing. Her and her boyfriend would always have music and always just bring a brighter and more positive vibe to anyone who was dealing with anything around them. They never had problems with anybody, not a single soul."

Arislenni Blanco-Medina singing and dancing.

What's next:

Hill is currently being held at the Pinellas County jail. Holloway said Hill was also on probation for an incident last year when, Holloway said, he beat up a man who he thought was talking to his girlfriend.

The Source: Information for this story was provided by the St. Petersburg Police Department along with Pinellas County Jail records.

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