Eight months after a tragic crash killed three young people in Lakeland, their families may finally have some closure.
Lakeland Police on Monday arrested Michael Marrero on three counts of vehicular homicide. He’s accused of drag racing with another driver he encountered on US-98 before losing control and hitting a car going the opposite direction.
Christopher Stewart, his girlfriend Kathrine Pitock, and their friend Brittany Lewis all died in the crash.
“He was just a good person. He would give the shirt off his back if you needed it,” said Britney Collogan, Christopher’s sister.
Collagen told ABC Action News she thinks about her brother ever day.
“It’s been so hard not knowing anything, to try to put him to rest because we haven’t had any closure since it’s still an ongoing investigation,” she said.
The mystery surrounding what happened appears to be at least partially over.
Detectives with the Lakeland Police Department managed to recover enough evidence to pinpoint Marrero as the driver who caused the accident, according to Sgt. Gary Gross.
“Kind of like Fast and Furious, they described, in and out of traffic, weaving from one lane to another,” he said. “We’ve tried to interview him but he says he doesn’t remember anything about the accident whatsoever.”
Meanwhile, the victim’s family will never forget it.
Every holiday they say they stop by to spruce up the roadside memorial. The next time they do they may have justice.
Marrero’s bond is set at $30 thousand.
“I hope (he’s in there) long enough,” Collogan said. “For him to sit in there long enough to dwell on it to know that he made a mistake and not get out and hurt somebody else.”
