Guilty Verdict for Third-Degree Murder Trial

Anthony Nepoleon Brown was found guilty at trial of Third-Degree Murder, Leaving the Scene of an Accident Involving Death, Fleeing to Elude Law Enforcement Causing Death, Driving While License Suspended, Resisting Law Enforcement without Violence, and Possession of Methamphetamine on August 31, 2022. He was determined to qualify for sentencing as a Habitual Felony Offender and sentenced to life in prison.

On August 22, 2017, at approximately 1:45pm, Anthony Brown was driving a white BMW sedan with an unknown passenger and was spotted by a Wildwood police officer speeding in a residential area. The officer attempted a traffic stop on Brown at which time Brown fled at a high rate of speed. Brown fled from law enforcement downside streets while heading towards State Road 44. Brown ran through the stop sign at County Road 219 and State Road 44 at a high speed while attempting to turn west bound on State Road 44 and collided with a Honda SUV driven by Laura Price. The crash killed Ms. Price almost instantly as Brown fled from his vehicle on foot into the wood-line on the north side of the busy road. A Sumter County Deputy assisted Wildwood officers in apprehending Brown nearby. Brown had a suspended driver’s license and was also found to have methamphetamine in the trunk of the car.

The Honorable Judge Mary Hatcher sentenced Brown to life in prison for Leaving the Scene of a Crash Involving Death, a concurrent life in prison sentence for Aggravated Fleeing to Elude Law enforcement Causing Death, concurrent 30 years in prison for Third-Degree Murder, 5 years in Prison for Possession of Methamphetamine, and credit time served for Driving While License Suspended and Resisting Law Enforcement without Violence. Assistant State Attorneys Dan Geraghty and Stephen Fern prosecuted the case.