Possible Suicide Suspected in Pedestrian Death

PINELLAS PARK, FL — A Tuesday night crash in Pinellas Park that resulted in a pedestrian’s death may have been a suicide, according to police.

The Pinellas Park Police department said the accident happened just before midnight in the 5500 block of 62nd Avenue North. At that time, a 2015 Nissan driven by Ronald David Smith struck a man who has not yet been identified by authorities. When the man’s body was examined, it was discovered he had what appeared to be “self-inflicted lacerations to both wrists,” an email from the agency stated. The man appeared to have been bleeding for some time, police noted.

Investigators followed a blood trail back to the man’s home and found the door open.

“It is believed at this time that the deceased male attempted to take his own life within his residence by cutting his wrists and possibly walked away to either seek medical assistance at a nearby hospital which is in the direction he was walking and fell accidentally into the roadway while en route, or he intentionally laid down in the roadway looking to end his life,” the email said.

The man, police noted, was wearing dark clothing and was laying down in the road at the time he was struck.

At the man’s home, police did not find a suicide note, but they did find a letter to a friend saying his residence was being auctioned off and “that he was not going to live out on the streets as a result of this action,” the police email said.

No further details are available at this time.

With an estimated 40,000 deaths attributed to suicide annually,the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists this as the 10th leading cause of death in the United States. In 2010 alone, there were an average of 105 suicides reported daily across the country.

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, there are resources available to help.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24 hours a day at 1-800-SUICIDE (1-800-784-2433). Its website offers services including a live chat.

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