Driver with revoked license convicted of DUI manslaughter

An ex-convict whose driver's license was permanently revoked because of repeated drunken driving convictions was convicted this afternoon of driving drunk once again four years ago -- except this time a pedestrian was killed as a result.

After deliberating for about 2 1/2 hours, a jury found Lonnie Booth, 48, guilty of DUI manslaughter in the Nov. 6, 2005, death of Rose Mitrano, a 43-year-old homeless woman.

Booth was also found guilty of driving with a license that had been suspended, revoked or cancelled.

Sentencing is scheduled for June 5, said Assistant State Attorney Frank Piazza Jr., one of the prosecutors in the case. Booth faces a sentence ranging from 30 years to life, Piazza said.

Prosecutors say Booth's blood-alcohol percent roughly an hour after the 11:30 p.m. collision was .297 - more than three times the .08 percent at which the state of Florida presumes a motorist is intoxicated.

Booth was driving a Chrysler LeBaron 40 to 45 mph when he struck the woman, who was walking along Roosevelt Boulevard between Interstate 275 and 28th Street, prosecutors said. Though the air bag activated, a headlight was knocked out, and Mitrano came up onto the hood of the car and smashed the windshield, Booth continued driving, prosecutors said.

He was pulled over shortly later.

Among the evidence linking Booth to the crime was Mitrano's blood, which had been left on the LeBaron before she rolled off the car, Assistant State Attorney Gregory Groger told jurors in closing arguments today.

The homeless woman was nearly decapitated in the collision, authorities said. One witness who saw Mitrano struck likened it to a bowling ball that strikes a pin, then keeps barreling away, Groger said.

Booth had been drinking vodka and smoking crack before the collision, prosecutors said. Piazza said outside court that Booth had four prior drunken-driving convictions before the wreck, and was recently released from prison on one of those charges before the hit-and-run.

Typically, family members who have lost a loved one to a drunk driver attend the trial, but no one appeared in court today on Mitrano's behalf.