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Driver's Sentence Includes Idea From Victim's Mother

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By THOMAS W.  KRAUSE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 1, 2008

TAMPA - Before the sport utility vehicle rolled over, killing a 21-year-old student dancer, Tracie Ann Elder had never heard of the University of South Florida SunDolls.

Now, Elder will work with the young woman's mother, running three events to raise money for the group.

Although Elder said she's eager to help, she doesn't have a choice. The fundraisers are court ordered.
In 2005, Elder pulled out of a gas station into the path of the oncoming SUV. Rikki Leigh Lewis lost control. She hit a curb. The truck rolled.

Elder kept driving.

On Wednesday, after a long legal battle, 35-year-old Elder pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident involving death. She faced up to 15 years in prison. In a deal with prosecutors, Elder was sentenced to two years' house arrest followed by three years of probation.

As a special condition of her plea, Elder must help organize and run three fundraisers for the SunDolls; that was Gwen Lewis' idea.

Gwen Lewis is Rikki's mother. Rikki danced with the group on the sidelines of USF Bulls games.
Before Wednesday's hearing, Elder and Lewis met face-to-face.

"It was three years of holding something in," Elder said. "Two people met at the right moment with completely open hearts."

Lewis said she was glad to find that Elder was genuine and sincere.

"I sat across from a person who showed true emotion," she said.

Elder described Lewis as a strong woman, a good woman.

"I don't have the words to understand what we're going through," Elder said. "I was just a stay-at-home mom before all this happened."

In the early evening hours of Jan. 23, 2005, Elder pulled her silver Honda CRV from a gas station onto a side road then merged onto Fowler Avenue. In her rear-view mirror, Elder saw a blue GMC sport utility vehicle.

Arnold Levine, Elder's lawyer, said despite Elder's guilty plea, she did not commit a crime.

The speed limit on Fowler is 40 mph, Levine said. Rikki Lewis, he said, was driving about 45 to 50 mph Elder tried to get out of the way. She never saw the wreck, Levine said.

"There was never any contact between the vehicles," he said.

A witness to the crash followed Elder, honking. Elder didn't stop. The witness wrote down her tag number. Elder returned to the accident scene when police called.

She was arrested and charged with a felony. Levine said that seemed overly harsh and a judge agreed.

In December 2005, Circuit Judge Debra Behnke threw out the charge. The cars never touched, therefore Elder was not involved in the accident, Behnke ruled.

A year later, the 2nd District Court of Appeal reversed Behnke's decision. Even though the two SUVs never touched, Elder's driving helped cause the accident, the appeal judges ruled. The charge was reinstated.

Levine appealed to the Florida Supreme Court. That court, however, declined to hear the case.

Levine said the ruling meant almost certain conviction for Elder. He said he couldn't imagine a jury acquitting her after an appeals court determined she was involved in the accident.

The decision frustrated him greatly.

"There was no drinking, there were no drugs," he said. "Tracie is a divorced young woman trying to raise two children."

The plea deal was, by far, Elder's best course of action, Levine said.

"It was a sad story," Levine said. "A young girl died and even at this point, I feel strongly that – but for the technicality and the broad interpretation of the word 'involved' – Tracie did not commit a crime."

Assistant State Attorney Kim Seace said prosecutors had offered Elder the house arrest and probation deal before the case was dismissed. When the charge was reinstated, Seace called Gwen Lewis.

She asked Lewis if she was OK with a sentence that did not involve prison.

"I felt in my heart," Lewis said, "sitting in prison wasn't going to do anything for anybody."

Seace asked Lewis if she thought Elder needed any special conditions on her house arrest and probation.

Lewis spoke to her family and called back with an idea. She wanted to memorialize her daughter by having Elder help raise money for the SunDolls.

"I thought it was a great suggestion," Seace said.

The summer after Rikki's death, Lewis said, school administrators let her 14-year-old sister walk at the commencement ceremony in Rikki's place.

"Rikki was able to get her diploma," Lewis said. "The school was so amazingly supportive."

She wanted to give something back.

As of now, Lewis said, she has no idea what they will do to raise money but she said she hopes others will join in to help the dance team. Anyone who can lend a hand should call USF, she said. The first of the three fundraisers will take place in August. Two more will follow over the next two years.

Elder said she is looking forward to working with Lewis, although she admits she knows nothing about fundraising.

"I'll do anything to help mend this mother's heart and this family's heart," she said. "I, as a mother, can't even fathom the pain she's been through. It'll be healing for both of us."

Reporter Thomas W. Krause can be reached at (813) 259-7698 or tkrause@tampatrib.com.

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