PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — Work this week has been challenging for the St. Pete Southwest Water Reclamation Facility team.
The Chief Operator, Jon Hughes, died Saturday when a driver hit him on his motorcycle, then left the scene.
Coming into work, Brian Barnes and Jason Venable tried their best, despite missing the glue that held the SouthWest Water Reclamation Facility together.
"John has a very loud personality. Just talks really loud. He's just a big personality. So being in office this week has been really strange with just it's been so quiet in there. And the way our desks face the face opposite direction. And usually, I'm so used to turning around and being able to consult with him about things or ask them questions. And now, when I spin around in a chair, I'm just looking at his chair. Just looking at his chair being empty, and it's gonna take some getting used to; definitely been a hard thing," Barnes said.
Brian Barnes worked with Hughes for five years.
"John was very dedicated to his job, very dedicated to his craft. There were times that you would even want to strangle him. It was one of those relationships like, man; I'm gonna punch him in his mouth. But he cared about what he did. He cared about his employees," Barnes joked.
St. Pete Police say Hughes was killed in a fatal hit-and-run Saturday afternoon.
Investigators add that driver Jakil Powell, in a Jeep, failed to yield as Hughes attempted to turn on his motorcycle at the 22nd South and 45th intersection.
"Every so often, I will be sitting there; my lady said I was just kind of staring off so often, like, he will pop in my head," he said.
Barnes says he saw a news article naming Jon Hughes as the victim in the crash. He didn't want to assume it was his boss and friend but decided to call his phone that night.
"I called and his wife answered his phone. And when she answered the phone, I knew. I talked to her for a few moments and didn't sleep well at all that night. And even the next day was dealing with all the phone calls," he said.
Barnes spent the day informing the other employees, like Jason Venable, who spent 17 years working with Hughes.
"As soon as he said, 'I got bad news.' I knew it was John, and I knew is that motorcycle. I used to ride. Brian used to ride too, but this past weekend, his girl told him he's not allowed to ride anymore," Venable said.
Statewide, we average 103,271 hit-and-run crashes a year. Two hundred fifty are fatal. In Tampa Bay, the average is 20,454 crashes and 58 deaths.
That statistic is why Venable gave up his bike.
"I talked with John about it, and after, I had close calls three times because the traffic here is so crazy and people do not pay attention. They drive distracted, and I sold mine. I got rid of it," he said.
Now Venable is left with memories of Hughes. Thinking back to their shared moments, Venable is glad he had so much time with Hughes. He jokes that the seventeen years were like a marriage.
"He was boisterous, boisterous. You knew where you stood with him. He was the most conscientious worker that I've known with the city. And he was just a really huge cog in what we do here. He was so critical to everything that we do. Brian talked about, you know, turning around and asking him for advice on stuff. Well, Brian's that advice now. Right. So there's a there's a void thereof of institutional knowledge that is gone. And it's a shame. It's, it's just a shame," he said.
The other side of Hughes; his compassion.
"He called me because my daughter was sick. It was nothing horrible, but my daughter was sick. And Jon knew that I was distressed. And so he called me, and it was the only time I ever heard him choke up, as he's asking me about my daughter," he said.
Now his empty seat is a reminder of how short life truly is. Likewise, the employees were left without their leader, who had just stepped into his role a year ago.
"I would just want him to know that we're going to continue to push forward with everything he taught us. This plant was his baby," said Barnes.
Jakil Powell is currently facing charges of leaving the scene of a crash involving death.
