Suspect Arrested for Deadly July Crash in Tyrone

By Abby Baker

Wednesday, August 18, St. Petersburg Police Department arrested Willie Lloyd, 21, for Aggravated Manslaughter of a Child, among other charges, in a hit-and-run crash near the intersection of Tyrone Boulevard and Norfolk Street on July 30.

The accident killed Paul Brinkley Jr., 16, and a one-year-old Williyah Waller, who were ejected from the car, according to the SPPD. Maliyah Waters, 18, an unnamed toddler, and Mar’Rion Heatley, 16, suffered injuries as passengers in the 2017 Nissan Rogue.

“Lloyd and Waters are the biological parents of Williyah Waller,” reads a statement from the SPPD. “No one inside the vehicle was wearing a seatbelt/properly restrained.”

According to police, Lloyd was driving the Rogue northbound at 76 mph in a 45 mph zone when he struck a grey sedan while trying to pass between two vehicles; Lloyd’s vehicle crashed into a tree and came to a stop in the front yard of a home. Lloyd then fled the scene, police allege, and was found in a vehicle near St. Pete General Hospital but he fled again. Lloyd was finally taken into custody on Wednesday, August 18.

Both Waters, who was arrested on July 30, and Lloyd are charged with counts of child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child, and aggravated battery with great bodily harm.

The SPPD also charged Lloyd with two counts of vehicular homicide, leaving the scene of a crash involving death, and no valid license – causing serious bodily injury; the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office charged Lloyd with possession of marijuana and two counts of violation of probation.