Texting Led To Fatal Courtney Campbell Causeway Crash: Police

TAMPA, FL – A glance down at a cellphone was all it took for a 19-year-old woman to become distracted and accidentally drive her vehicle into a concrete barrier on the Courtney Campbell Causeway Sunday night.

That’s the determination from the Tampa Police Department, following its investigation into the accident that killed the woman and injured two people in her car. The wreck closed westbound lanes on the busy causeway for several hours.

In an email to media, the police department said Sha-Mhya Turner’s glance led to a chain reaction. After her car hit the barrier, it flipped and Zarcari Neal, 2, was ejected from the vehicle. The girl was taken to Mease Countryside Hospital in Clearwater by a passerby and eventually airlifted to St. Joseph’s Hospital.

Marquise Neal, 20, was also transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Police say Marquise Neal was wearing his seatbelt.

“It appears the diver was not wearing a seatbelt and the child was not properly secured in a child seat,” the email said.

Turner died at the scene of the crash. The baby, police noted, is expected to recover from her injuries.

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