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Hit and Run Driver Tweets Photos

By Ephrat Livni, Esq. on October 23, 2015 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

A man tweeted a photo of a boy he killed this weekend, leading police to him. Trevius Williams,16, was picking up bread for his mom at the corner store when he was fatally struck by a car in Jacksonville, Florida, reportedly driven by Keenan Mikel Slaughter, 19.

Photos of the bleeding corpse, posted by the driver, went viral and led police to the perpetrator. The graphic images infuriated Williams' mother, Connie Cole. She told reporters, "To be honest, I'm enraged ... I don't know whether to be mad or sad ... How dare you do that? How dare you stand over my son's mangled bloody body and take a picture of him?"

I Just Killed a Man

The aptly-named Slaughter's tweet came with text, too. He wrote, "I just killed a man." Police later confirmed that the driver and tweeter were one and the same.

Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Public Information Officer Melissa Bujeda released a statement confirming that they were able to identify the person who posted the photo and that he was the driver of the vehicle that struck Williams. What the JSO has not yet said is whether Slaughter will be charged for Williams' death.

Tweets leading up to the fatal accident indicate that Slaughter was drinking. There are also reportedly no indications at the scene that anything obstructed the driver's view. The investigation continues.

Hit and Run DUI?

It seems extremely unlikely that Slaughter will not be charged once the investigation is complete. Leaving the scene of an accident is a crime. Leaving the scene of a fatal accident is a first-degree felony in Florida with a minimum of four years imprisonment for a first-time offense.

Florida statute provides that "the driver of a vehicle involved in a crash occurring on public or private property which results in the death of a person shall immediately stop the vehicle at the scene of the crash, or as close thereto as possible, and shall remain at the scene ..." The non-injured driver must contact police and stay nearby to provide information.

If Slaughter is found to have been intoxicated when he hit Williams, he will face additional charges for felony DUI. Connie Cole, the deceased boy's mother, wants to see Slaughter prosecuted.

But of course, nothing will bring back her boy. She described seeing him after the accident. "I shook him and I just wished he was sleeping... Maybe he could just wake up, just wake up one more time please, Trevius. But he was gone."

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