{"id":7677,"date":"2011-06-16T17:11:47","date_gmt":"2011-06-16T21:11:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/?p=7677"},"modified":"2011-06-16T17:11:47","modified_gmt":"2011-06-16T21:11:47","slug":"i-4-accident-leaves-driver-devastated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/?p=7677","title":{"rendered":"I-4 Accident Leaves Driver Devastated"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY IRIS B. HOLTON
\nSentinel City Editor<\/strong><\/p>\n

Last Friday afternoon, an accident on Interstate 4 left two women dead and two seriously injured. The survivors are recovering, but the emotional injuries have left the driver of the vehicle devastated.<\/p>\n

The four Tampa women, Ms. Shantel Lawton<\/strong>, 47; who was the driver, Mrs. Amanda Evans Coleman<\/strong>, 48; Mrs. Brenda Evans Richard<\/strong>, 56; and Mrs. Windelon Tolbert Seymore<\/strong>, 66, were going to Orlando for the weekend.<\/p>\n

When travel ahead slowed, Mrs. Lawton<\/strong> slowed down as well. However, police said Joshua Russo<\/strong>, 36, of Deltona, failed to observe traffic slowing down ahead of him. The 2006 Ford truck he was driving collided with the back of Mrs. Lawton\u2019s <\/strong>vehicle. Mrs. Richard <\/strong>and Mrs. Tolbert<\/strong>, seated in the back, died at the scene.<\/p>\n

Mrs. Lawton<\/strong> was admitted to South Florida Baptist Hospital in serious condition. Mrs. Coleman<\/strong> was taken to Tampa General Hospital, in critical condition. Both women are recovering from their injuries at home.[private]<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mrs. Rona Roberts Pryer<\/strong>, sister of Mrs. Lawton<\/strong>, said Mrs. Lawton<\/strong> and the other three women were very good friends. \u201cShe is still undergoing flashbacks and is deeply saddened by this tragic accident that claimed the lives of two of her friends. Our family would like the community to know how this has affected our loved one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her family has endured four deaths in the last two months. They have lost their father, Homer Hemmingway<\/strong>, Charlie Everhart, Sr.<\/strong>, who was the grandfather, and two cousins in the last two months,\u201d Mrs. Pryer<\/strong> said.<\/p>\n

Mrs. Pryer<\/strong> further stated that although her sister, affectionately known as \u201cShine,\u201d knows it wasn\u2019t her fault, she is deeply hurt.<\/p>\n

Mrs. Lawton<\/strong> and Mrs. Coleman<\/strong> became childhood friends and were always together at social events and church functions. Mrs. Coleman<\/strong> was a bridesmaid in Mrs. Lawton\u2019s<\/strong> wedding, Mrs. Pryer<\/strong> said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing that will be remembered is that the four ladies always spent time together during the Labor Day Weekend in Daytona with family and friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Tampa native, Mrs. Lawton<\/strong> grew up in West Tampa and attended the public schools of Hillsborough County. She graduated from Tampa Technical High School.<\/p>\n

After graduation, Mrs. Lawton<\/strong> earned her B. A. Degree from St. Leo University in Human Relations. She continued her education at Argosy University, where she earned her Master\u2019s Degree. Mrs. Lawton<\/strong> has been employed with Hillsborough County for more than 20 years. She is the mother of two sons, Wayne, II<\/strong>, and Ryan<\/strong>.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mrs. Pryer<\/strong> said there has been an outpouring of love from Mrs. Lawton\u2019s<\/strong> co-workers who are wishing her a speedy recovery.<\/p>\n

Mrs. Pryer<\/strong> said her sister suffered injuries to her neck and left side of her body. However, the emotional scars will last long after her body heals.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is so devastated because there was nothing she could have done to prevent the accident. She is having a very hard time and has been very, very distraught.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are praying for the other families and we\u2019re just at a loss for words. We\u2019re very, very sorry. We all have suffered a great loss, but God is too wise to make a mistake,\u201d Mrs. Pryer<\/strong> said.<\/p>\n

A longtime member of First Baptist Church of West Tampa, Mrs. Lawton<\/strong> enjoys traveling, shopping, cooking, reading, and spending time with family and friends.[\/private]<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor Last Friday afternoon, an accident on Interstate 4 left two women dead and two seriously injured. The survivors are recovering, but the emotional injuries have left the driver of the vehicle devastated. The four Tampa women, Ms. Shantel Lawton, 47; who was the driver, Mrs. Amanda Evans Coleman, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":210,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news","pmpro-has-access"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/210"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7677\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}