Plant City man gets 12 years in prison for crash that killed daughter, hurt son

On a September night in 2022, a resident on Joe McIntosh Road in Plant City heard a revving engine, then squealing tires and the sound of a crash.The woman later told deputies that she ran outside, saw a crumpled Ford F-250 pickup sitting in a gravel driveway and heard crying. She saw a man crawling toward a child lying on the ground near the driver side door of the pickup. She found another child on the ground beyond a smashed fence, face down in the darkness.That child, Mallory Lassiter, died at the scene. She was a couple of months shy of her second birthday. The boy, Jaxon Lassiter, who was nearly 3 years old, survived with serious injuries.Now the truck’s driver and father of both children is headed to state prison after pleading guilty to multiple charges in connection to the crash.A Tampa judge sentenced Kolby Justin Lassiter to 12 years in prison on Jan. 12 after he pleaded guilty to four charges, including aggravated manslaughter of a child and DUI manslaughter.The sentence was shorter than the 19.5 years in prison that Hillsborough prosecutors had offered Lassiter, 26, who instead submitted an open guilty plea, leaving the sentencing decision up to a judge.“Strategically, we just felt that we might have a better chance presenting our mitigation to the court directly,” Ruffin Hunt, Lassiter’s attorney, told the Tampa Bay Times.According to an arrest affidavit, Lassiter was driving east on Joe McIntosh Road in Plant City about 9:45 p.m. on Sept. 13, 2022, when he swerved off the road near Cucumber Lane. The truck traveled onto a grassy shoulder, struck a wooden fence on the truck’s passenger side, rolled over at least once and continued through the fence on the east side of a property. It came to rest right-side up in a gravel driveway.Lassiter and his two children were thrown from the truck during the crash.The resident who ran outside after hearing the crash told Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office deputies that Kolby Lassiter seemed disoriented and was crawling toward the child near the truck. When Lassiter called out two different names, the witness asked him if there was another child in the truck. Searching with a flashlight, the witness found Mallory Lassiter in the fenced area.The girl was not breathing and had no pulse, so the woman called 911 and, with the help of the operator, performed CPR until paramedics arrived.According to the affidavit, Jaxon Lassiter was flown by helicopter to Tampa General Hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery. The boy had lacerations to his liver and a kidney, a broken femur and pelvis, and multiple cuts and abrasions.Kolby Lassiter was taken to Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center with broken bones, a scapula fracture and a spinal fracture, the affidavit states.Lassiter, who according to court records lived on the 1400 block of Joe McIntosh Road, later admitted to deputies he had two shots of whiskey when he got off work about 3 p.m. that day and was driving with the children to get them to fall asleep, the affidavit states. He told deputies he was driving the truck and his son was sitting on his lap, while his daughter was in the rear passenger seat. He said his son suddenly stood up and hit the gas pedal, causing the truck to go out of control.Lassiter told deputies the child in the back seat was strapped in but probably undid the buckle.A blood test showed Lassiter’s blood alcohol level was .169, more than twice the legal limit of .08. He was arrested on charges of aggravated manslaughter of a child, DUI manslaughter, DUI with serious bodily injury and DUI with property damage.Lassiter faced up to 30 years in prison just for the aggravated manslaughter charge. Legal guidelines, which are based on factors including a defendant’s criminal history, called for a sentence of 19.5 years, which is what prosecutors offered Lassiter, followed by 15 years of probation, Hillsborough State Attorney Suzy Lopez said in a statement to the Tampa Bay Times. Instead, Lassiter decided to enter the open guilty plea.“That gave the judge the ability to determine the sentence, which we respect,” Lopez said. “Our hearts remain with both young victims as well as their mother, who will never again get to hug her precious daughter.”Hunt, the defense attorney, said Lassiter decided to leave his punishment up to Judge Christine Marlewski, hoping she would depart from the sentencing guidelines after she was presented with mitigating factors.Hunt said that his client was forthright and cooperative with investigators from the beginning and did not have a prior criminal history. Hunt also submitted to the court a report showing that Lassiter had been diagnosed with substance abuse disorder and another mental health disorder.Marlewski sentenced Lassiter to 144 months in state prison for aggravated manslaughter of a child; 144 months for DUI manslaughter; 60 months for DUI with injury; and time served for DUI with property damage. She ordered that the sentences be served concurrently and for Lassiter to be imprisoned where he can receive mental health treatment.She also sentenced him to eight years of probation to begin after his release from prison.Hunt said Lassiter is no longer with the mother of the children, who had little involvement in the case and did not speak at the sentencing. Lassiter spoke and expressed remorse, his attorney said.“Certainly not playing a victim in any sense, but I think that it’s pretty easy to acknowledge that this was a tragedy and, regardless of what kind of sentence the court handed down, it certainly is something he’s going to be struggling with and grappling with for the rest of his life,” Hunt said.

Plant City man gets 12 years in prison for crash that killed daughter, hurt son

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