MUGSHOTS: Shawn Lee Blitchington, accused of fleeing crash that killed young couple
Court records show the man accused of fleeing a crash that killed a pregnant woman and her boyfriend has five previous arrests for driving under the influence.
According to Florida Highway Patrol, Shawn Blitchington’s driver’s license was permanently revoked when he got into a wrong-way crash on Saturday just after 11 p.m.
Troopers said he was driving a white Ford F-250 southbound in a northbound travel lane of U.S. 301 with no headlights on when he hit a 2017 Honda Civic head-on.
Bailey McKnight, 22, and her boyfriend, Ryan Kennedy, 22, were in the Civic. They were killed in the crash, troopers said.
Bailey’s cousin gave me this picture of the two of them together. She says she hopes Shawn Blitchington is never allowed back on the road. @ActionNewsJax pic.twitter.com/YBUXnRZDCo
— Varisa Lall Dass (@vldass) July 23, 2018
According to FHP, Blitchington fled the scene of the crash. He was arrested near the crash site at 5:20 a.m.
Family said McKnight was eight-months pregnant with the couple’s first child. She also had a young son.
“She was a phenomenal mother,” McKnight’s cousin Brooke Price said. “One day when I become a mother, I hope I’m half the mother she was.”
Price said her cousin was expecting a boy, and she and Kennedy couldn’t have been happier.
The young couple’s families want to know why Blitchington was behind the wheel of a car despite his revoked license.
Action News Jax Law and Safety Expert Dale Carson said there are times individuals with permanently revoked licenses can drive.
Troopers tells Action News Jax that Blitchington did not fit into those exceptions.
“The only way to keep them off the road is to keep them in custody,” Carson said.
Court records in Duval, Nassau and Suwanee counties reveal Blitchington has been arrested for DUI five times.
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His first DUI arrest was in Duval County in 2002. He was arrested again for DUI in 2003, 2004, 2008 and 2011, according to court records.
Blitchington has also been arrested on battery and driving with a suspended license charges, records show.
FHP said the truck Blitchington was driving Saturday was registered to a company called Pure Air Inc.
A Florida Division of Corporations search showed Blitchington was the registered agent for the company in 2002.
The company is no longer active.
Toxicology reports for Bitchington are pending, troopers said.
This is Bailey McKnight with her cousin Brooke Price on Price’s wedding day. Price gave me this picture and said people often thought the two were twins growing up. She says she hopes to be half the mother Bailey was. Bailey would’ve had her second child in a month. pic.twitter.com/Zwc8H6N5u4
— Varisa Lall Dass (@vldass) July 23, 2018
Bailey's loved one says she was the perfect mother to her son. Bailey was 8 months pregnant with another boy. Her cousin describes Ryan Kennedy as the perfect stepfather. Hear what family says they would like to happen to the man police say left the scene after the crash at 5. pic.twitter.com/eRjst5iIlK
— Varisa Lall Dass (@vldass) July 23, 2018
The family of Bailey McKnight is griefstruck and tells me they lost her brother years ago. Ryan Kendall was an only child. The couple had manay friends are were popular in the community. @ActionNewsJax @WOKVNews pic.twitter.com/6WOb2qkV9O
— Varisa Lall Dass (@vldass) July 23, 2018
Police say Shawn Blitchington hit pregnant Bailey McKnight head on. They say he did not have his lights on and fled after the accident. @ActionNewsJax @WOKVNews pic.twitter.com/537TOQASzH
— Varisa Lall Dass (@vldass) July 22, 2018
Family is heartbroken after the death of Bailey McKnight and Ryan Kennedy. Friends tell me McKnight was 8 months pregnant and a mother to a little boy. @ActionNewsJax @WOKVNews pic.twitter.com/87pwKeGZnJ
— Varisa Lall Dass (@vldass) July 22, 2018
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