PANAMA CITY — Armando Spruill was sitting behind the driver of Miah Hill’s car early in the morning on Oct. 22, 2011 when it ran the red light at Business 98 and North Cove Boulevard. When another driver started to proceed across the path of the speeding car, the driver swerved and lost control, so Spruill grabbed onto the seat in front of him.
“I immediately grabbed hold of the driver’s seat to brace myself,” Spruill testified Thursday, going on to describe the crash. “… After everything we stopped. I was still holding the seat.”
The car smashed into a utility pole so hard it was torn in half, killing passenger Danielle Guilford. Spruill let go of the seat to sit back down, only to find himself on the pavement.
The testimony came during the first day of the trial of Tarrance Jerell Harrell, 22, charged with DUI-manslaughter and vehicular homicide.
Defense attorney Jean Marie Downing said in her opening statement Thursday morning the physical evidence wouldn’t support the state’s contention that Harrell was driving, but Spruill and Hill both testified Thursday he was driving.
Hill told police after the crash she was the driver, and her DNA was found on the driver’s side and passenger’s side airbags. An officer at the scene that morning testified that a few hours after the crash Harrell approached him with tears in his eyes and admitted to driving the car.
There were discrepancies about how fast the car was going when it crashed. A police officer who investigated the crash estimated based on video footage of it that the car was going “no less than 90” miles per hour, while another witness estimated it was going “above 50. Anywhere from 50, 60 — fast.”
Guilford was sitting next to Spruill in the back seat, almost directly at the point of impact. Guilford was thrown from the car and dead by the time a paramedic who saw the crash got to her, which was only a matter of seconds, while the other people in the car suffered minor injuries.
After Harrell told the officer he was the driver police took a blood sample that showed his blood-alcohol content was .059. He was arrested four months later. He could be sentenced to up to 30 years for vehicular homicide if he’s convicted. The trial is expected to conclude Friday.