Parents Seek Answers After Teen Killed By Unmarked Sheriff's Car

TAMPA, FL – Still grieving for her 15-year-old son who was struck and killed by an unmarked car driven by an undercover deputy Friday night, the mother of Josiah Pinner is now wondering how she’ll pay to bury her only son.

Hoping to take that worry off the shoulders of Josiah’s mother, Joanne Rojas, and his father, Jay Pinner, friends, family members and strangers have donated more than $2,600 through a GoFundMe campaign set up by Jay Pinner to help with funeral expenses.

The accident happened at about 6:30 p.m. Friday on North Florida Avenue at East 124th Avenue..

Rojas said her son, an eighth-grader at Buchanan Middle School, and his best friend had just left Jay Pinner’s house and were riding their bikes to the friend’s house. They got off their bikes to walk them across Florida Avenue.

The deputy had a green light and was proceeding through the intersection when he spotted Josiah’s friend. He swerved to miss teen but ending up striking Josiah.

The boys were walking just outside the marked crosswalk at the time of the accident. The deputy is not facing any charges.

But Josiah’s parents want answers and want someone to be held accountable.

“We want justice,” said Pinner.

Witnesses have told them that the deputy was speeding at the time of the accident and that he continued on for a distance before returning to the accident scene.

But during a press conference, Chief Deputy Donna Lusczynski said the deputy never left the scene and another deputy driving a marked vehicle showed up moments later.

She said investigators are still analyzing data to determine the deputy’s speed at the time of the accident.

The sudden loss of a young, promising life has galvanized the community. On Saturday, about 100 people gathered at the crash scene for a candlelight vigil and march 2.5 miles away to the sheriff's District 1 office at 14102 N. 20th St. Many wore T-shirts bearing the teen’s photo.

Organizers, including the groups Working People Against Police Brutality and the Restorative Justice Coalition, called the event a “Rally for Josiah Pinner and Against Police Impunity.”

“So far, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office has been less than cooperative in helping the family find the answers they desperately need and deserve - and as historical precedent shows, they will likely investigate themselves and find they did nothing wrong,” said organizers on the Facebook invitation for the rally. "The family invites the community to come rally for the beautiful life of Josiah Pinner and march to the sheriff's office to seek answers and justice for what appears to be yet another senseless act of police negligence."

GoFundMe is a Patch promotional partner

Images via GoFundMe

Josiah Pinner with his mother and three younger sisters.

Josiah's father, Jay Pinner, and his sisters wear T-shirts bearing his picture.

(For more local news from Florida, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Patch. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here.)