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Trial begins for Antonio Mitchell in deadly hit-and-run
Gloria Gomez reports
TAMPA, Fla. - The trial for the driver accused of killing a man in a Tampa area hit-and-run crash started Tuesday.
Antonio Mitchell was arrested nearly a year after the deadly crash that killed Artimus Holley. Opening statements started Tuesday morning in the trial and the first witnesses on the scene of the crash were called.
The deadly hit-and-run happened back in April 2018 between a silver Jeep Cherokee and a Mitsubishi Lancer. Prosecutor Erik Alper said the driver of the jeep was trying to speed away from police and ran a stop sign on 26th Avenue and Columbus Avenue.
He said the driver was speeding when the jeep slammed into the other vehicle involved. That car was driven by Holley, the prosecutor said.
Holley died of his injuries, and the driver of the Jeep survived but didn't stick around after the crash.
"… He gets out of the car, and he runs. There are no Jedi mind tricks here, law enforcement got the person they were looking for," explained Alper.
The Jeep was a rental, but it took nearly a year to track down the driver, who prosecutors said was Antonio Mitchell. They said fingerprints in the Jeep matched Mitchell's.
But during opening statements, Hillsborough Public defender Justin Fahringer was quick to challenge the fingerprint analysis and said there were no eyewitnesses and no DNA that places Mitchell behind the wheel.
"What evidence suggests Mr. Mitchell was driving this vehicle involved in this accident?" questioned Fahringer.
He called this case nothing more than a rush to judgement and went on to say, "the prosecutor said they got who they were looking for they were looking for a person not the suspect not trying to figure out who did this," argued Fahringer.
The trial is expected to go to the jury on Thursday.