Man faces murder charge after forcing car off road in St. Petersburg, police say
A man previously arrested in connection to a fatal crash in St. Petersburg last weekend is now facing murder and attempted murder charges after police say he intentionally forced another car off the road thinking his ex-girlfriend was inside.
But Kyle Mathew Hill, 33, had the wrong car, and instead caused a crash Sunday on 34th Street North that killed a woman he didn't know and seriously injured her boyfriend, St. Petersburg police said Wednesday.
Hill is now being charged with first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder, an upgrade from the DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide charges he initially faced after his arrest, Chief Anthony Holloway announced at a news conference.
The crash killed Arislenni Blanco-Medina, 28, and left her boyfriend, Norbelis Figueredo-Campos, 35, in critical condition.
Shortly before 8 p.m., Hill argued with his ex-girlfriend, and she left in a friend's car, a Honda Accord, Holloway said. Hill got into his Nissan Armada and went looking for her.
As Hill was driving south on 34th Street North near 30th Avenue North, he spotted a Honda Accord that he thought was the one his ex-girlfriend was in. He called her and threatened her as he chased the Honda for several blocks, police said.
Holloway said Hill told the woman, 'I got you, I'm going to kill you, your friend and myself.'
Figueredo-Campos tried to get away from the man chasing them in the SUV, but near 17th Avenue North, Hill forced the Honda off the road, where it collided with a concrete pole, Holloway said.
The pole split and fell onto the car, crushing its roof. Blanco-Medina died at the scene and Figueredo-Campos was taken to a hospital.
Hill lost control of his Nissan SUV and hit a tree in the median.
'He used his car as a weapon,' Holloway said.
Staff at Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital told police that Hill's blood alcohol level was 0.185, according to an arrest affidavit. Under Florida law, a driver is presumed impaired at 0.08 or higher.
Police estimated that Hill was driving more than 60 mph at the time of the crash, the affidavit states. The speed limit on that stretch of 34th Street South is 35 mph.
Figueredo-Campos came to the United States from Cuba about a year and a half ago, and Blanco-Medina moved here from Cuba a few months ago, police spokesperson Yolanda Fernandez said at the news conference.
Blanco-Medina was on the phone with her father and 9-year-old daughter, who are both in Cuba, when Hill started chasing them, Fernandez said. Blanco-Medina told her family she thought she was going to die, and then they heard a crash, according to Fernandez.
'So the family members in Cuba, her father and daughter, then called her family here in Pinellas County to let them know something terrible had happened,' Fernandez said.
Speaking in Spanish, Blanco-Medina's brother Aramis Blanco said at the news conference that his sister was speaking with her family members on WhatsApp when they heard her screaming, 'He's going to kill me,' apparently a reference to the man in the SUV who was chasing them.
Blanco said the family wants justice and for Hill 'to pay for what he did.'
Clara Figueredo, Figueredo-Campos' aunt, said her nephew is an ambitious, goal-oriented man who dreamed of bringing his girlfriend to the United States so she and her daughter could have a better life. She said her nephew remained in the intensive care unit Wednesday with a fractured pelvis, among other injuries.
Hill was being held without bail Wednesday. He is also facing a probation violation charge. Pinellas court records show he pleaded guilty to felony battery in December and was sentenced to 36 months of probation.
In that case, according to an arrest affidavit. Hill sucker punched a man in the back of the head at a St. Petersburg bar and then, after the man fell to the ground apparently unconscious, punched him in the face six times.
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