DUI Manslaughter Suspect Arrested Five Months Later

Jamie Allen, a 19-year-old girl of Lake Worth known as “Kodak” for her love for photography and remembered for her infectious smile, was killed in a car crash on Feb. 4. Five months and a week later, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office arrested Christopher Moffitt – the man they say was driving.

On Feb. 4, Moffitt was behind the wheel of a 2005 Cadillac CTS, as it sped through a residential Lantana neighborhood and crashed into a tree, according to the PBCSO arrest report, the Sun-Sentinelreported. Allen was pronounced dead at the scene. The two other teenage passengers, Lyndsey Rice and Robert Stoddard suffered serious injuries. Moffitt, the driver who was 18-years-old at the time, and sustained minor injuries in the crash, appeared to be under the influence of a “mix of alcohol and marijuana.”

Drivers are alcohol-impaired if their blood-alcohol concentration is .08 or higher, under Florida Statutes,§361.193. Tests on Moffitt found a BAC of .089, the Sun-Sentinel reported. A March 6 toxicology report confirmed alcohol in his system, along with marijuana, and this combination of alcohol and marijuana likely caused “a lack of caution by Moffitt,” according to the PBCSO arrest report.

Moffitt, now age 19, was arrested on July 11 on charges of driving under the influence manslaughter, vehicular homicide and DUI causing serious bodily injury, and is being held on $160,000 bail, the PBCSOBooking Blotter shows.

In a touching WPBF.com article, Allen’s parents reacted to the arrest. “There isn’t a minute in a day that goes by that we don’t think about her. And we want to be sure and know that he’s thinking about her, that he’s thinking about what he did,” her mother, Cheryl Allen, told the West Palm Beach news station.

DUI Fatality Statistics

Sadly, too many children, teenagers and adults suffer serious injuries or lose their lives at the hands of a drunk driver every year. In the United States, there were 9,878 fatalities in crashes involving a driver with a BAC of .08 or higher in 2011, which equates to 31 percent of total traffic fatalities for the year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s latest Traffic Safety Facts report.

Florida remains third-highest ranked state for alcohol-related fatalities; the same NHTSA report shows:

• Texas – 1213
• California – 774
• Florida – 716

If you have been injured in a crash or someone you know has suffered a wrongful death due to a driver that failed to exercise reasonable care since he or she was legally intoxicated at the time of the crash, then you may be able to recover compensatory damages and punitive damages, please contact us.