Arguing homebound soldiers killed by vehicle in Fort Pierce
October 26th, 2009 by TCPalm.comFORT PIERCE — Two men arguing while on Okeechobee Road in Fort Pierce Saturday night died after being hit by a vehicle, according to a Florida Highway Patrol report.
The Fort Myers News-Press is reporting Monday morning that the men were soldiers traveling to Southwest Florida to surprise their families before being deployed by the U.S. Army to Iraq.
Joshua Thomas Baker, 24, of North Fort Myers, and Jonathan Wendell Peterson, 21, of Fort Myers, were in the inside lane when the front of a westbound vehicle struck them, according to the report. Baker was thrown into the inside lane and Peterson was thrown into the grass median.
“They were on their way here,” Jenni Lynn Baker, Joshua’s sister, told the News-Press. “They were coming down to surprise us.”
The men were taken to Lawnwood Regional Medical Center with fatal injuries, according to the report. The driver, Christopher Lee Martin, 24, of Okeechobee, failed to see them in time. His three passengers weren’t injured.
No further information was available Sunday, according to Florida Highway Patrol officials.
Jenni Lynn Baker said her family is still gathering details on what happened. She didn’t know if or why the two were arguing.
“We don’t know what happened,” she told the News-Press. “We just know there was an accident.”
According to Baker, her brother and Peterson were friends for the past five years and they enlisted in the Army on the same day about a year ago. Peterson met Baker after he started dating one of Baker’s sisters, she said.
She said her family was taking the deaths hard. Her parents didn’t want to be interviewed.
Her family, she said, would get through the tragedy “by trusting in God.”
Staff report
Tags: accident, arguing, army, fatal, fort myers, iraq, northh fort myers, soldiers
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October 26th, 2009 at 8:52 am
No one pays attention on the road, those that do try to just drive full-speed around animals/kids/pedestrians. Look at the other news about the turnpike looking to go cash-less due to people rear-ending others waiting for change.
Instead of these stupid speed traps up and down I-95, the police should work harder to find the bad drivers out there. They are merely looking to maximize revenue, not save lives.
October 26th, 2009 at 9:26 am
How do people know that they were arguing? Unless there was a 3rd person in the car with them, or if one of them was on the phone while he argued with the other person?? The story seems a little weird to me…
November 14th, 2009 at 10:48 pm
There were TWO other people in the car that reported the two deceased were fighting on the roadway. And let’s not blame the driver who hit them on a very dark road. The first driver was alert and swerved around the two who were in the middle of a dark road. The driver behind him didnt know there was a problem until that car swerved, and by then it was too late. Unfortunate accident, but in this case, the deceased are the ones who caused it. Fault wont matter to the family and friends of these two, but lets not put undue blame on an innocent driver.