Parents sue sheriff in UCF student’s death

Deputy, suspect driver in fatal high-speed chase also suit’s targets

The parents of a University of Central Florida student killed in a collision with a BMW fleeing a deputy sheriff have filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings, the suspect and the pursuing deputy.

The lawsuit alleges Kailyn Marie Jones, 22, died in the 2016 crash that resulted from Deputy Kyle Gabrus’ decision to “unnecessarily” pursue Andre Lee Davis-Johnson at high speeds through a residential area near Maitland because of a traffic violation.

Jones was on her way home from dinner with her grandmother and cousins who were visiting from out of town.

The chase began about 10:50 p.m. June 11, 2016 — a few hours before a gunman opened fire inside the Pulse nightclub in Orlando — when the deputy saw a black BMW drive into oncoming traffic near Forest City and Riverside Park

roads.

The BMW was swerving and caused other cars to veer out of the way, a sheriff’s report said.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of her father, Maurice Leman Jones, and mother, Leah Betancourt, focused on the deputy’s actions, alleging he acted “without regard for human life” by initiating a high-speed pursuit of the BMW on streets with traffic circles and a posted speed limit of 25 mph.

According to reports of the incident by deputies and Maitland police, Gabrus, a deputy since February 2012, flipped on his emergency lights and siren and tried to catch up to the BMW on Pembrook Drive, but the car accelerated away from him.

The BMW drove between two cars on two-lane Pembrook.

The chase lasted about a mile before the deputy got the vehicle’s plate number, turned off his emergency lights and started to slow down, the report states.

The BMW continue to speed away, hitting a concrete barrier in a roundabout at Pembrook Drive and Maitland Summit Boulevard and flying into the air.

The driver of the BMW, identified as Davis-Johnson, 27, was not injured, but Jones was killed when the BMW landed atop her Honda Civic.

Davis-Johnson scrambled from the wreckage through a passenger-side door of the BMW and ran to a 7-Eleven.

Maitland police impounded the BMW, which was titled in the name of Davis-Johnson’s girlfriend.

Police obtained a warrant to search the vehicle and found paperwork from a muffler store linking it to Davis-Johnson, a bag of marijuana, two bottles of codeine, men’s jewelry and $2,957.

The Orange County Sheriff s Office has policies to guide deputies for vehicle apprehensions and pursuits, including when to initiate chases and how chases should be enacted and conducted.

According to the lawsuit filed by Orlando attorneys William Corzo and Edmund Normand, a pursuit for misdemeanor offenses, nonforcible felonies, traffic or civil infractions is prohibited by the sheriff’s policies and procedures.

A spokesman for the Sheriff's Office declined comment Monday, saying the agency does not discuss pending lawsuits.

But the agency told the Sentinel in 2016 that Gabrus’ actions followed the chase policy when a driver doesn’t stop for a traffic infraction.

Gabrus was given a written reprimand because he did not radio in about the traffic stop before starting to chase the vehicle.

Davis-Johnson, who called himself “Andre DreMoney Johnson” on Facebook, was linked to the fatal crash through DNA, jewelry in the BMW, 7-Eleven surveillance video, phone records and statements by his girlfriend who picked him up near the crash scene.

He pleaded no contest in April to attempting to elude a law-enforcement officer, causing death, driving without a valid license and possession of marijuana with intent to sell.

Circuit Judge A. James Craner sentenced him last month to 25 years in prison.

In an Orlando Sentinel story in December 2016, Jones’ mother, Leah Betancourt, recalled trying to make sense of the loss of her only daughter amid the chaos of June 12, 2016, when 49 lives were lost at Pulse, just down the street from Orlando Regional Medical Center.

“It was devastating because everyone else, all that momentum, it was, of course, focused on them [Pulse victims], but our baby died that night, too,” she said.

A UCF senior, Jones was studying to become a pediatric physical therapist.

Her memorial marker in Winter Park features musical instruments that reflect her love for music. She also loved skateboarding and surfing and was on a mission to travel to every Florida natural spring.

Jones had a teenage brother and two younger half-siblings.