Tampa Police reported that at 4:40 a. m. Sunday, 15-year-old Roderick Williams was driving a vehicle east across the Laurel Street Bridge. At some point, Williams lost control of the vehicle, struck a guardrail, and plunged into the river, sinking in 20-feet of water.
The section of Laurel Street approaching the bridge heading east has a lot of sharp curves, and can be difficult to navigate if you aren’t familiar with the roadway. It also has a dark section as the last of the curves turns towards the bridge.
Tampa Fire Rescue arrived and were able to get Williams out of the vehicle, but pronounced him dead at the scene. A second person who witnessed the accident was also pulled from the water after trying to rescue Williams.
Ericka Williams, Roderick’s mother, said her son was going through a series of emotional problems, and she hadn’t seen him since December 28th.
“I called police to report him missing. While he was gone, he contacted his sister and grandmother, but the rest of us hadn’t heard a thing. He didn’t contact anyone to say Happy New Year.
“I’m no different than any other parent when it comes to their children. I was always worried about Roderick, and scared something would happen to him.”
Ms. Williams said Roderick had been in and out of several juvenile offender programs, didn’t want to attend school, and didn’t want to be in a detention facility.
“He was put into an aftercare program, but since they had a curfew, he ran away from that.
“If there was one thing Roderick really enjoyed, it was playing for the youth football team at Fair Oaks.”
Ms. Williams said one of her biggest concerns about her son was the fact he was so easily influenced, and felt he needed to prove something to people.
“He was always a very intelligent young man, and really loved science. I often thought about moving into a different community, but as a single parent, that wasn’t possible.”
Ms. Williams said Roderick was driving his sister’s car without her permission.
“This is not the way we planned on celebrating the New Year. We all hoped that things would get better for him this year, and we could be a family again. It was troubling he couldn’t be with us to bring in the New Year.”
Roderick has a twin brother, Broderick, and four other siblings.
The family is asking for help in making funeral arrangements for Roderick, and ask if anyone can help, please call (813)506-0554.
