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Survivor Of Wreck In Shock Over Loss

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By KEITH MORELLI, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 6, 2007

TAMPA - A day after his life came unraveled to the squeal of tires and clash of metal, Eugene Eichorn recuperated at home.

The gravity of what happened early Tuesday morning - the violent death of his fiancee, Tonya Ellis - had yet to sink in, he said.

"It hasn't really hit me yet," Eichorn, 27, said Wednesday morning. "I'm a little sore, but not as bad as I could be."

He said he and his fiancee were sharing a ride to work at Traffic Control Products of Tampa early Tuesday. He said he usually drives, but she was behind the wheel. He had reclined his seat for the predawn ride to work down East Hillsborough Avenue.

"I remember passing the railroad tracks, and that's all I remember," he said. "I woke up in the ambulance, and they told me she was fine. And she wasn't."

He said he could understand why paramedics didn't tell him Ellis, 22, was dead.

"But I'm still a little upset about it," he said.

He said he and Ellis had dated for six years and were planning a 2008 wedding, although a date had not been set.

In a flash, that part of his life was over.

"I've got to be strong," he said. "I still have two little girls."

Eichorn's brother, Leo, said Wednesday that Eugene Eichorn was wearing a neck brace and seemed to be in shock.

Ellis' mother, uncle, brother and sister live in Tampa; another sister lives in California, Leo Eichorn said. "She was a good girl. She liked to have fun. She liked to live life to the fullest."

Shortly before 6 a.m. Tuesday, Ellis and Eugene Eichorn were at the 30th Street traffic light on Hillsborough Avenue when a roofing company's Ford F-250 driven by a habitual traffic offender with a revoked license rear-ended their Toyota Tercel, police said.

Wensley Belfoor, 49, has a medical condition that caused him to smash into three other vehicles on East Hillsborough Avenue before crashing into the Toyota, police said.

None of the other motorists in the crashes that preceded the fatal wreck was injured. Police did not have additional information on the other motorists Wednesday.

The state attorney's office is considering charges, police said.

Public records show Belfoor, of 119 Bush Lane, Tampa, is a habitual traffic offender whose license was revoked for five years in May. Police did not elaborate on Belfoor's medical condition, but his employer said the man has diabetes.

Richard Jenkins, owner of Quality Roofing of Florida, which employed Belfoor, did not return a message seeking comment Wednesday.

In 1998 and 2002, Belfoor was charged with misdemeanor driving under the influence. For the first offense, his license was revoked for 180 days. For the second, it was revoked for five years. He also has received four speeding citations since 1998, his driving record shows.

Belfoor also has been cited three times for driving with a canceled, revoked or suspended license, most recently in January, records show. His license was suspended for five years in May because he is a habitual traffic violator, records show.

Reporter Valerie Kalfrin contributed to this report. Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760 or kmorelli

@tampatrib.com.

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