Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Second life lostafter wall crash

A 19-year-old's death comes as a result of a Dec. 28 accident that also took the life of a 16-year-old.

By JACOB H. FRIES
Published January 4, 2006

LARGO - A second passenger has died as a result of a Dec. 28 accident in which a car carrying three friends crashed into a wall in front of the Sun Coast Hospital, police said Tuesday.

Joshua P. Naylor, 19, who was flown to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg after the wreck, died from his injuries Monday, police said. His family could not be reached Tuesday.

"He was able to put pretty much anybody in a good mood," said Jerome T. Freeland Jr., 19, who was behind the wheel at the time of the crash. "He was a real good brother and a good son and a good friend. All of his friends are going to miss him."

The wreck, which also killed 16-year-old Amanda Angell of Largo, is still under investigation. No one has been charged.

Authorities responded at 5:33 p.m. to the crash scene, a 2-foot-high wall at the hospital's main entrance off Indian Rocks Road. Investigators said the car had been traveling the 35 mph speed limit and simply failed to turn with the road.

Angell, who was sitting in back and didn't wear a seat belt, was taken to Largo Medical Center and pronounced dead on arrival, police said.

Freeland, meanwhile, broke three bones in his right foot and had a collapsed lung.

Detectives have said there was a "slight indication" Freeland was under the influence of something. Test results were still pending.

Freeland denies being impaired. He said Tuesday he couldn't recall what happened.

"There's about five hours of my life that I can't remember," he said.

[Last modified January 4, 2006, 01:07:18]