Hudson woman convicted in Pasco triplet trial

Betty-Jo Tagerson says she blacked out behind the wheel before losing control of her vehicle on a Pasco County road more than a year ago, plowing into a group of children playing in a neighbor's front yard and killing a 5-year-old triplet.

Prosecutors have called that explanation "impossible" and say the 40-year-old Hudson woman was fighting with her boyfriend before she caused the Nov. 5, 2010 accident that killed Delaney Rossman and seriously injured three others, including Delaney's two siblings.

Today, a six-member jury found Tagerson guilty of vehicular homicide, second degree manslaughter and two counts of reckless driving with serious bodily injury. The judge later dropped the lesser charge of vehicular homicide.

Rossman's family members, who packed the Pasco County courtroom today, hugged and held each other as the guilty verdict was read aloud by the bailiff.

Tagerson, who faces up to 25 years in state prison when she is sentenced on Feb. 10, remained stoic as the verdict was read. She would later leave the courtroom in tears. Her attorney didn't ask to poll the jurors.

The verdict came after four hours of deliberation and three days of testimony by medical experts, a forensic engineer and Tagerson's and Rossman's family members, including emotional testimony Tuesday by Delaney's remaining siblings, Isabella and Gabrielle.

Throughout the trial, prosecutors portrayed Tagerson as a scorned woman who after a heated argument with her live-in boyfriend got into her Jeep Grand Cherokee and peeled away, losing control and smashing into a mailbox, a parked truck and the four children.

"She was angry and she wanted everyone to know she was angry, with no regard for the safety of the children in the neighborhood," Assistant State Attorney Bryan Sarabia said in closing arguments this morning. "These were kids, playing in a neighbor's front yard."

Tagerson's attorney, Dennis Watson, argued throughout the trial that Tagerson blacked out without warning before the fatal accident, the first of several blackout incidents.

He also focused on the vehicular homicide charges, arguing prosecutors hadn't proven "within reasonable doubt" that Tagerson was criminally negligent for Rossman's death.

"You're being asked to determine whether a crime has been committed," Watson told the jury during his closing arguments. "I would argue that the state just hasn't proven that."

Earlier in the day, the jury heard from a nurse at American Primary Care who testified she examined Tagerson – who was seeking a refill on her Xanax prescription – several times last year and that she didn't complain about blackouts or loss of consciousness.

Only after a third visit to the clinic, the nurse told jurors, did she mention the blackouts.

Jurors also heard from a neurologist who, testifying for the prosecution, told them that he examined a CT scan of Tagerson's brain after the crash and found no abnormalities.

Florida Highway Patrol investigators say Tagerson's Jeep was traveling at least 44 mph in the 30 mph zone when the accident occurred. She was thrown from the vehicle, which continued across the street and into the driveway of the triplets' home, where it smashed into the family's minivan. Tagerson was taken to a hospital, but released the next day.

Prosecutors say Tagerson's defense that she blacked out was "impossible."

"When she hit those kids, she was as awake as she is today," Assistant State Attorney Chris Sprowls said. "There's nothing to prove this defendant suffered from blackouts."

Following a lengthy FHP investigation, Tagerson was arrested in March, but released from a Pasco jail on $15,250 bail that same day. The trial, which began Monday, was supposed to have started in October, but Pasco County Circuit Court Judge Michael Andrews granted a request from her attorney for more time to prepare his case.

On Tuesday, the two surviving triplets and their mother, Danielle Malm, testified about what they heard and saw that November evening and how it has changed their lives.

Malm testified that a few weeks before the accident, Tagerson was speeding on the street while the children were outside playing soccer. She described how she walked down the street and confronted Tagerson and others in her house about speeding.

Tagerson also took the stand in her own defense on Tuesday, telling the jury that she didn't remember the crash, but recalled hyperventilating and losing consciousness.

During one of the triplets' testimony, Tagerson began sobbing which prompted Judge Andrews to ask the jury to leave the courtroom until she regained her composure.

John Murdoch, a forensic engineer who is an expert in accident reconstruction, said his investigation indicates the driver of the Jeep floored it when the vehicle first started.

He told jurors that a bald tire contributed to the vehicle fishtailing and a broken door latch caused the driver's side door to swing open, allowing Tagerson to be ejected.

Outside the courtroom, the triplet's mother called the verdict "bittersweet.''

"This is what we wanted,'' she said. "She is going to prison, but it doesn't make it any easier.''