Driver charged with DUI manslaughter after downtown Tampa crash

TAMPA — A 22-year-old man is dead and another in custody after a fatal crash on southbound Interstate 275 downtown early Friday.

The driver was charged with DUI manslaughter after he was hospitalized for minor injuries. The passenger died at the scene.

Just after 3 a.m., Xavier Ramirez, 22, of Tampa, was on the I-275 exit ramp to Ashley Drive when he lost control of his 2007 Kia SUV, which slammed into the guardrail and flipped, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Passenger Gerald Hodge, also 22 and from Tampa, was thrown from the car and died, troopers said.

Ramirez was taken to Tampa General Hospital, where he arrested after it was determined that he was impaired by alcohol.

Ramirez was charged with possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia in 2005, according to jail records.

The southbound Ashley Drive exit ramp was closed for several hours and reopened at 7 a.m.

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