Driver in fatal Pine Hills hit-and-run that killed 2 women takes plea deal

A hit-and-run driver who killed two women when he ran a Pine Hills red light in June accepted a plea deal on Thursday that puts him in prison for 23 years.

In June, Brye Jenkins, 24, dressed in a suit and tie and – with the help of two spiritual advisers — turned himself in to authorities, concluding a three-week search for him after the crash.

The Rev. Stovelleo Stovall, who stayed in touch with Jenkins after escorting him to the Orange County Jail on June 16, called the plea deal “bittersweet.”

“He’s willing to accept what happened,” Stovall said Thursday.

The State Attorney’s Office had first considered offering Jenkins a shorter prison term of 18 years but reconsidered after he was arrested again in March for driving with a suspended license, according to spokeswoman Angela Starke.

Jenkins had remained free on a $25,400 bond after the crash. Since 2008, Jenkins has been arrested an additional eight times for driving with an invalid or suspended license, records show.

He pled guilty on Thursday to two counts of vehicular homicide, leaving the scene of a fatal accident and driving with a suspended license.

Jenkins’ rammed his Volkswagen SUV into a car on North Pine Hills Road on June 1. Veronica Williams, 53, and Bessie Anderson, 78, were inside and had been on a shopping trip before Jenkins hit and killed them.

Williams was a retired child-care worker who was one class away from graduating with an accounting degree from Valencia College. Anderson worked at Tropical Cleaners on Old Winter Garden Road until January.

Initially Jenkins’ then girlfriend, who was riding in the car with him at the time of the crash, told police she didn’t know the driver. Shane Kizzy Leah Joseph, 25, was charged with lying to police and pled guilty in September.