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Two Juvenile Pedestrians Were Injured In A Hit And Run On Quintette Road. Driver Later Told FHP He Thought He Hit A Deer.
April 7, 2020
Two juveniles were critically injured in a hit and run crash Monday night on Quintette Road. The driver later called troopers to say he thought he hit a deer.
The Florida Highway Patrol said 12-year old Hailey Locke and a 13-year old not named in the crash report were walking west on Quintette Road approaching Carrington Lake Boulevard when they were struck by a Ford Escape driven by 58-year old Robert William Etheridge of Cantonment.
The front of the Ford Escape collided with the first pedestrian’s back, throwing him onto the hood and into the windshield. Locke, 12, was thrown about 65 feet onto the right shoulder of the roadway. Both were transported to Sacred Heart Hospital in critical condition — one of them airlifted by Shandscair helicopter as a trauma alert.
The FHP said Etheridge immediately fled the scene and later contacted FHP to say he may have hit a deer in the same area. A trooper was dispatched to his home and located the vehicle that collided with the pedestrians.
FHP said charges against Etheridge are pending.
NorthEsambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.
Comments
44 Responses to “Two Juvenile Pedestrians Were Injured In A Hit And Run On Quintette Road. Driver Later Told FHP He Thought He Hit A Deer.”
To all of you paying your respects and condolences thank you, for both of these children. For you idiots blaming these children for being on a road at dusk, they weren’t in the middle of the road they were on the shoulder. In Florida pedestrians have the right-of-way, plus quintette Road in that area is 35 miles per hour. The coward that hit them was doing at least 15 miles one more over the speed limit. He left skid marks for 118 ft before he made contact with the children. So he saw the kids well before he hit them. I have personally seen a cell phone the little girl had with her. It is shattered, but still in the shape of her back pocket where it was at during impact. Plus there was a bright street light right above the accident site. The driver, is totally to blame for this! One child has lost his life, and the other one is carrying the burden of losing her friend. If you want to do something you pray for these children and their families. Do not blame them! Blame the coward that left them for dead!
How on earth do you think you hit a freaking dead when you hit 2 children? This man deserves to be in prison for freaking life hailey and Rylee is didn’t know personally but they loved eachother and it’s not okay to “think” you hit a dear when you know you hit to children this man is stupid and dumb and deserves prison for life! Hailey and Rylee I love you both even tho I don’t personally know Hailey or him Hailey is in my gym at school and I want her to have what she had a while ago at school so like pls lock him back up
Rylee was my best friend. When he moved down to florida I was so upset i didn’t know what to do. I hope they will be ok. My question is how tf do u think u hit a deer. I’m pretty sure you would see the deer when u hit it. Is that the best excuse he has? RYLEE I LOVE U BRO AND THANK U FOR BEING MY BEST FRIEND. MY PRAYERS ARE TO RYLEE AND HAILEY AND THERE PARENTS.
I need for most of you to improve your situational awareness. I am out on roads a lot and many if not most of you seem clueless driving. Stay out of left hand lane if not passing and be aware of traffic behind you, ahead of you and even peripherally.Also, if you are a pedestrian , stay as far off road as possible. Most of you people have these extremely unaware looks on your faces(blank) and most of these types of accidents are largely avoidable.
Praying for the families. I understand accidents happen, however I take issue when people try to blame the victims. Please be careful with your posts.
I hope they heal quick I meet them both one time and they are so sweet and I don’t want to see them Like this I would take all the pain for them
@ mnon if this fella is all that you say, then why did he keep driving, as good as you make him sound it would have been his natural character to stop . I believe this man is covering for someone, they will ping his phone and others as well, so if there is more truth I suggest it’s told.
What was he doing to not have his eyes on the road? If they had have been he would have seen what he hit..
We are praying for these two precious families and these children involved in this tragic accident. Please God put your healing hands them and I pray for peace for these families. We are so sorry this happen to your children and hope justice will be served.
I’ve known Bob many many years and I can promise you if he thought he hit a child he would have stopped. Bob is the type person to call Wild Life Management to report eagle sightings, he is the type to call ESD to report a dead deer on the road etc. He is the type guy who will just buy someone in need food and drop it off to them. I’ve seen him do all these things many many times. I can promise you he is devastated after learning he hit those kids and I can also promise he won’t even deny it, or try to weasel his way out of it. Bob is the type man as tragic as this is would do whatever the court decides and admit his own fault the whole time. I pray for those kids and their family and I pray for Bob and his family. This is just tragic all the way around. Very sad.
Hailey and Riley are both amazing people they dont deserve to die I am good friends of both I send all of my prayers I hope they come out of this alive. Ily Hailey and Riley I know you can get through this.
Well wouldnt you at least stop and see what 2 things you hit with your vehicle? Im js i wouldnt have just drove all the way home after my windsheild gets smashed.
deer season or rut season or not….I have seen plenty of deer on Highway 29 north of Molino the past few months..if you are going to walk along side of the road(especially that road) at night…be dressed with plenty reflective or light colors…and drivers SLOW DOWN!!!!! prayers for all involved….
Please guys Don’t just assume !!! After the he heard of the accident is when he called. I myself have hit a deer and got scared and just drove like hell home and then checked my truck…. God only knows what goes through our mind at the moment…
My heart goes out to all involved…. I’m sure he also feels really bad ….
just my opinion
@ ensley boy
Interesting thought!
My prayers for all.
If I hit a deer you best know I would get out to check what kind… I played softball with this girl and she was the sweetest, they didn’t deserve this. The police needs to put him in jail, there can be other children in danger because of him!!! I pray to god that Hailey and her friend is okay
How do you “think” you hit a deer? You know when you hit a deer much less 2 humans. Not to mention if you hit a deer and continue to drive off why would you call to report it later? Suspect.
I will not pass judgement and will pray for all involved. BUT why in the world were children walking in the road in the first place? Roads are for vehicles, not pedestrians unless there is a crosswalk.
To Hailey and the child that was with you —I am praying and Bryce is praying as well…you are at the forefront of our mind and we pray that you have a swift recovery. I don’t understand how the driver didn’t see you both, however, I trust that the responding officer took the initiative to test the driver and if he passed a breathalyzer then I trust the officer gave him a blood test for substances.
I hope Rylee and Hailey both heal up quick
that girl hailey was my friend, breaks my heart to see this happen to her
Ron and Michelle, please know you are all in our prayers that God will comfort and sustain you through this difficult time. We are also praying for Hailey and her family.
Like all of you, I am going to guess he knew he had not hit a deer, otherwise he would of stopped.
But I am also confused as to why a 12 and 13 year old were walking down Quintette Road at night. This is not the safest road to be walking down during the middle of the day, downright dangerous to be walking down it after twilight.
Maybe he is trying to cover for someone close to him.
One of my academy seniors at WFHS called me last night @ 20:59 stating she was the first responder at this scene. She rendered life-saving first aid with the help of another responder. She cried on the phone and I assured her she had learned well and applied what she had learned. Kudos to ECEMS and Baptist Healthcare for providing my seniors with unparalleled learning opportunities in high school. What a blessing for the community.
Breaks my heart!
I call BS…I’ve hit a deer before and the collision caused me to stop…so why didn’t he?! This happened right up the street from my parents home.
bruh that was my best friend i love you hailey keep your head up babygirl were all gonna help you get through this
Please pray for my little brother!
Please pray with all your hearts and souls for my son and his friend
He LEFT them on the side of the road!!! TWO CHILDREN!!! I just prayed for these little children and cried. His leaving them could make a life changing decision. WHY DID HE DO THAT?????
First of all to throw a young girl 65 feet he was definitely driving faster than the speed limit. Second it’s only April so it’s not even rut season much less hunting season. Your not going to see many deer right now. Third if you can’t see that those were kids walking he shouldn’t be driving. Fourth I’ve known her mother and family all my life and I can’t imagine the pain and worries they are going through at this point and time. All of you are in my prayers…. God has her and her friend Cort in his hands and everything will be better real soon.
A deer with clothes on? Or were these kids wearing fur coats?
There’s No excuse for leaving the scene of a crash. When there’s injuries involved the charges should be upgraded. I don’t know why the FHP let him slide on this. To me that’s another crime. Who does this guy know?
this was one of my best friends cousins i only met her once she is so sweet and didn’t deserve this God please put your hand on her and heal her Lord pray for her families and friends and pray for her friends family too Lord they need you right now
This is my niece, this man left two children on the side of the road for dead!! How heartless of a man is that? I’m beyond pissed about this, I’m infuriated about it. But I thank FHP for doing their jobs and the EMS and ER teams for helping my niece. Family just needs prayer warriors right now.
God please protect and heal these babies from this tragic accident prayers goes out to the both of them
Who hits a deer with this kinda of impact and doesn’t at least stop to check on their vehicle, much less a child thrown up on the hood of your car, not buying it.
Oh, really….so he thought he hit one deer, huh? What about the second deer?I’m sure if he hit 2 deers he would have at least stopped! I doubt if he’s telling the truth! God help the babies he left for dead on the road!
Lord plz saved these children. what a liar – theres no way u thought hitting a deer with such impact without stopping to check for damage. Turn urself in & be charged for leaving these 2 children to die on the roadside like deers. Wht a heartless beast you’re.
He knew good and well he didn’t hit a deer. Nobody could be that blind or stupid. Nobody hits anything and just keeps driving unless they’re doing something wrong.
This is such a tragic, prayers for them to recover.
Father God I pray to you now
Please place your almighty healing hands on these 2 precious babies. In your sweet son Jesus Christ’s name I pray . Amen
Please pray for the families of both of these children!