Jerrod Deonta James, the man Florida Highway Patrol identified as the driver in a crash Christmas Eve 2021 in Kissimmee that killed two of his passengers, was located this week and arrested Tuesday the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, FHP has reported.
He was booked into the Osceola County Jail on the active warrant that FHP signed in December 2022, and doubled down on in February. He's been charged with two counts each of DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide and one count of driving with a suspended license involving death, and remains in jail on no bond. The Haines City man is also being charged on a warrant from Polk County.
FHP said James, 33, was driving a Kia Forte southbound on Vineland Road approaching U.S. Highway 192 around 4:40 a.m. on Dec. 24, 2021. According to FHP's crash report, the car reportedly traveled across the road and into the parking lot of the Golden Link Motel, which is on 192 at the end of Vineland and has been the site of many crashes like this over the years. The Kia struck a post on the driver's side. Two passengers in the car, Angelina Joline Anderson, 18, of Kissimmee, and Giovanna Danaisha Shacqui Anderson, 31, of Clermont, were pronounced dead on the scene.
According to the report, James was not using his seat belt and was totally ejected from the vehicle, and was transported, along with two other surviving passengers, to HCA Florida Hospital Osceola (then called Osceola Regional Medical Center). The evidence later revealed that the James was driving the vehicle under the influence at the time of the crash.
