ST. PETERSBURG — The driver involved in a fatal hit-and-run crash in downtown St. Petersburg on March 18 is now facing a charge of DUI manslaughter after toxicology results showed he was drunk at the time of the crash, police said.
Souvanna Thongdara, 39, is accused of hitting Morgan Donald Hill, a 48-year-old transient man who was crossing Central Avenue at Third Street. Investigators said Thongdara drove away after the crash about midnight, but officers quickly caught up to him nearby. He originally faced a charge of leaving the scene of a serious bodily injury crash, police said.
Hill died from his injuries March 25 at Bayfront Health St. Petersburg. Thongdara, police said, had a blood alcohol level of 0.217 that night, according to the toxicology report.
He turned himself in at the Pinellas County Jail late Monday afternoon.