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Boy dies, another remains hospitalized following crash involving DUI suspect, deputies say

POLK COUNTY, Fla. — A 13-year-boy died Friday after he and four other children were struck by a drunken driver while they walked home from a bus stop Thursday in a Poinciana neighborhood, the Polk County Sheriff's Office said.

Former law enforcement officer John Camfield, 48, of Davenport, was driving his Kia Rio on Allegheny Road near Athabasca Drive at about 5 p.m. Thursday when witnesses said he leaned forward and left the road, hitting five Dundee Ridge Middle Academy students who were walking on a shoulder of the road, Sheriff Grady Judd said.

Judd said Camfield sideswiped Jonte Robinson, 15, Jasmine Robertson, 14, and Rylan Pryce, 12, before striking Jahiem Robertson and Juan Mena, both 13.

Jahiem Robertson and Mena were flown to Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando with life-threatening spinal, facial and head injuries.

Jahiem Robertson died Friday. Mena remains hospitalized with orbital fractures, but he is expected to survive, Judd said.

Lana Roman, 10, was at the scene when the crash happened and said she was walking home when she heard a loud noise and went back to see what happened.

"One boy was lying on the ground over there, catching his breath," she said. "And another boy, he wasn't awake, and he was lying on the ground over by the road."

Staff at Dundee Ridge Middle Academy described Robertson as a fun and energetic students, who had good grades and gave 100 percent on the basketball team.

“It hurts. It hurts me as a parent, it hurts me as a leader in the school system, but most importantly, when I looked into his sister’s eyes last night,” said Polk County Public Schools superintendent Jacqueline Byrd. “To know, all that they wanted to know was the Jahiem going to be OK.”

Witnesses said Camfield traveled back onto the road after hitting the children, slowed and then sped off before turning onto Bayberry Road and then onto Poinciana Parkway, where he rear-ended a pregnant woman in a stopped Nissan Murano, deputies said. She wasn't seriously injured.

Watch Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd's news conference below:

Judd said the force of the crash disabled Camfield's car, allowing Deputy Jonathan Quintana, who was off duty but lives nearby, to detain him.

Running barefoot to the bus stop, Quintana said he was terrified by what he might find.

"(My daughter) started screaming, 'Dad, dad, help me. Dad, I need your help,'" he said. "Nothing compares to hearing your daughter ask for help and you can't do anything."

When he saw the injured children, Quintana ran home to get his patrol car and first-aid kit.

When he got back to the scene, two nurses were treating the injured children and pointed in the direction the vehicle had fled in.

"I switched from being a father to doing my job," Quintana said.

He caught up with the suspect, who had already wrecked his car, Judd said.

When deputies asked Camfield if he realized what he had done, he claimed to be unaware of what happened, Judd said.

"If I did, just shoot me," Camfield told deputies, according to Judd.

Hear from the deputy who apprehended the suspect below:

Camfield also worked at Cypress Gardens as director of public safety, Judd said.

Deputies said Camfield refused a blood test, but investigators obtained a warrant and conducted a Breathalyzer test and a blood test. Detectives said the breath test revealed that Camfield had a blood-alcohol content of .146 percent almost seven hours after the crashes. The toxicology results are still being processed.

Judd said the suspect seemed lighthearted during his arrest and critiqued detectives on their investigative skills, saying, "You guys know what you're doing around here."

Camfield was booked into the Polk County Jail and charged with two counts of driving under the influence with serious bodily injury, two counts of leaving the scene of a crash with serious bodily injury, two counts of leaving the scene of a crash with bodily injury, three counts of driving under the influence with injury and property damage, and reckless driving.

He faced a judge Friday afternoon where his bail was set at $600,000.

Camfield worked at several police agencies in Mississippi before he retired, deputies said.