Police identify driver in fatal St. Petersburg crash that killed 2 kids, injured others

Police have identified all six occupants of a 2017 Nissan Rogue that crashed into a tree off Tyrone Boulevard on July 30, killing two children inside the vehicle, according to the St. Petersburg Police Department.

In a news release issued Thursday, investigators identified the driver as 21-year-old Willy Lloyd and named Paul Brinkley Jr., 16, as a previously unidentified passenger. In the initial release about the crash police had identified the two passengers who were killed as Williyah Waller, 1, and Mar’Rion Heatley, 16. Officers also reported that Maliyah Waters, 18, and an unnamed toddler had been passengers in the vehicle at the time of the crash.

The crash occurred when Lloyd drove the Nissan at 76 mph in a 45 mph zone on the northbound side of Tyrone Boulevard, police said, Lloyd hit a gray sedan while attempting to pass between two vehicles and lost control of the Nissan, investigators said, and the car then struck and tree and came to a rest in the front yard of a house located by Tyrone Boulevard and Norfolk Street.

None of the passengers were wearing seat belts, police said. Heatley and Waller, who both died as a result of the crash, were thrown from the vehicle, along with the toddler, who suffered critical injuries. The three were taken to an area hospital. Lloyd fled the scene and was spotted in a car near St. Pete General Hospital, police said. He fled again when officers tried to stop the vehicle, according to the news release.

Police located Lloyd and took him into custody Wednesday evening.

He faces several charges, including two counts of vehicular homicide, aggravated manslaughter of a child, leaving the scene of a crash involving death, child abuse - aggravated battery great bodily harm, leaving the scene of a crash involving serious bodily injury and two counts of no valid license causing serious bodily injury.

The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, which was involved in helping to locate Lloyd, also charged him with two counts of violation of probation and one count of possession of marijuana. Waters, who was riding in the front seat of the vehicle, was arrested around the time of the crash after authorities accused her of allowing children in her care to ride without using seat belts. She faces charges of aggravated manslaughter of a child and child abuse - aggravated battery - great bodily harm.

Lloyd and Waters are the parents of Williyah Waller, the toddler who died in the crash, police said.