Riviera Beach driver sentenced to eight years in fatal accident in 2022

RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) — The suspect in a fatal 2022 traffic accident on the Blue Heron Bridge involving a golf cart has accepted a plea deal of eight years in prison.

On Thursday, Willie Joe Shannon Jr. confessed. guilty of vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of an accident. He was sentenced to eight years in prison, followed by six years of probation, restitution and additional court-imposed conditions. statement from the Riviera Beach Police Department (RBPD).

On August 16, 2022, investigators say Shannon was at the wheel of a Mercedes that rear-ended a golf cart on the bridge, killing 51-year-old Troy Lowry, the owner of Get Wet Watersports.

According to the affidavit, Shannon, 57, was driving between 90 and 110 miles per hour at the time of the crash, which threw Lowry more than 300 feet onto the road upon impact.

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RBPD stated that witnesses reported that the driver of the black Mercedes-Benz fled the scene on foot toward Lake Shore Drive before officers arrived.

According to police, a woman said she was able to identify Shannon as the driver after he told her, “I’m having a really bad time.”

Investigators then used surveillance footage from a nearby building to identify Shannon as a suspect.

U.S. Marshals arrested Shannon on December 18, 2022, three months after the crash.

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