VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – An Ormond Beach woman accused of driving a pickup truck through a Daytona Beach Shores toll booth and killing the attendant inside is now in custody, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said.
According to a report from our sister station in Orlando, WKMG, Deanna Harrell, 36, was arrested on warrants for vehicular homicide and DUI manslaughter in the death of toll booth attendant Tammie Jo Baker, 63.
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The crash occurred Monday afternoon at the Dunlawton Avenue beach access ramp in Daytona Beach Shores. According to deputies, Baker was killed on impact when the truck struck her booth at an estimated 40 mph before continuing into the ocean.
“I think she was probably close to being killed on impact,” Chitwood said. “That booth isn’t made of anything, if you look at it. And you hit that thing at 40 miles an hour; there’s really nowhere to go. And it flipped the booth around, the force of that.”
News 6 was there when Harrell was taken into custody under the Baker Act for threats of self-harm right after the crash.
The Sheriff says his team then had to collect more evidence, like video of her drinking at a bar before this crash, to get a warrant from the State Attorney’s Office.
Harrell was taken to Halifax Hospital for the Baker Act hold. Then Halifax released her, but Harrell checked herself into another psychiatric facility, where deputies finally arrested her.
“You can’t take sanctuary in a Stewart Marchman and say ‘you can’t arrest me right now because I’m having mental problems.’ No, that’s what they have in the jail. That’s why you go to jail. The arrest warrant, and especially for vehicular homicide warrant, it takes precedent,” said Chitwood.
Body-camera footage released Tuesday shows witnesses telling deputies that Harrell smelled of alcohol following the crash.
Sheriff Chitwood said more charges are likely coming after her blood results come back and a forensic analysis of her truck.
“It’s got to be examined to make sure the brakes were properly functioning, that the accelerator was properly functioning, the steering wheel, and everything was in there so she can’t claim that the brakes failed. You have to try to shut all that down as well. So that’s what takes traffic homicides a long time,” he said.
On Tuesday, a vigil was held at the beach access ramp where Baker was working, where family members and Daytona Beach Shores Mayor Nancy Miller gathered to honor her life.