Worrell gathers at site of road rage killing for 1st quarterly update since return to office

Yahoo

24-04-2025

Orange-Osceola State Attorney Monique Worrell looked back Thursday on her first three months since returning to office during a news conference at the site of a road rage killing to draw attention to what she called a worrying trend.
Reporters gathered at the shopping plaza on East Colonial Drive as Worrell spoke amid public disputes in recent weeks between her and officials in Tallahassee. In 2023, Gov. Ron DeSantis along with local law enforcement leaders spearheaded the effort to remove her from office, only for her to handily win reelection against appointed State Attorney Andrew Bain.
'As I finish the first quarter, I'm proud to report a strong and successful start to my term back in office,' Worrell said. 'Thanks to the dedication of the men and women who work for the Ninth Judicial Circuit State Attorney's Office.
'We made significant progress in advancing our mission to serve justice and protect our community.'
The event was just yards away from the site where 30-year-old David Sligh was fatally shot Jan. 22, 2024 by a driver angry at being cut off in traffic. Worrell said his case is part of a trend of road rage shootings in recent years.
According to prosecutors, Nicholas Carrasquillo, 27, stepped out his car and fired several times at Sligh. He later told cops he could have avoided the confrontation by driving around him.
Carrasquillo awaits sentencing after being convicted March 20 of second-degree murder for the 51-second confrontation.
'This is a great concern to me personally as a mother,' Worrell said. 'I use Colonial Drive every day to take my children to and from school and their different activities. And as a mother … I want my children and I to be safe when we travel on the roadways.'
The case, she added, is one of 43 felony trials for which a guilty verdict was secured — part of a reported 70% conviction rate since her reelection. While she also highlighted other cases involving child abuse and human trafficking, she spoke at length about what she called a worrying trend of road rage shootings.
Violent crime has trended downward in the years following a surge that peaked during the COVID-19 pandemic, but those shootings remain prevalent. An analysis by Everytown for Gun Safety showed road rage shootings have increased nearly every year between 2018 and 2023, with a slight drop-off in the latter year.
Florida per capita ranks 27th among 40 states for which data was available, but the nonprofit found the phenomenon tends to be higher in states with weaker gun laws. Worrell said her office looks to combat the trend with prosecutions along with advocating for tighter firearms restrictions.
'People pull the trigger, but guns are an instrument of death,' said Linda Coffin, co-chair of the League of Women Voters of Orange County's gun violence prevention committee, who stood alongside Worrell.
Worrell also updated reporters on the state of a backlog of 13,000 nonarrest cases that prompted her to implement a policy limiting their review. The move sparked a backlash led by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier that led her allies to fear a new suspension, concerns she has brushed off.
'I'm here for public safety, I'm not here to focus on politics,' she said. 'Anything you that you hear in that vein is focused on politics over public safety.
'The only pressure that I feel is the pressure to ensure that I do everything within my power to ensure the safety of the people in the Ninth Judicial Circuit.'
Since the public spat between her and Uthmeier she has welcomed six prosecutors from the Office of Statewide Prosecution, many of whom she said previously worked for her office. The challenge of managing the backlog remains, Worrell said, as the state's help is only a temporary fix while she lobbies for more funding to pay for additional full-time prosecutors.
In that event, she previously pledged, she would be open to rescinding the policy.