CLAY COUNTY, Fla. – The father of a young man killed in a hit-and-run in February 2023 said he wants to know why the person who hit his son left the scene.
Jerry Stepp, a 22-year-old, was killed in a hit-and-run crash on Blanding Boulevard in Clay County.
The Florida Highway Patrol arrested the suspected driver, Sorie Brown, on Tuesday.
Brown faces several charges, including vehicular homicide, leaving the scene of a crash involving a death, and driving on a revoked license.
Stepp’s father, Jerol, said he learned details of what ultimately led to the arrest.
Detectives told Jerol that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement found Brown’s DNA inside the car he was driving at the time of the crash after he left the scene.
FHP confirmed DNA results were a part of the investigation. DNA was found on the airbag, seat belt, and steering wheel.
FHP said the investigation also included witness statements and surveillance video.
Jerry Stepp was a few weeks shy of his 23rd birthday when he was killed in the crash.
According to FHP, Brown blew through the intersection at Blanding Boulevard and Orange Park Northway and slammed into Jerry’s SUV before he ran away from the crash.
Jerry was ejected and died in a hospital three days later.
News4JAX spoke with Jerol a month after his son’s death. We followed up with him in a phone call following Brown’s arrest. He was still processing his feelings on the news.
“I was happy,” Jerol said after getting the call from investigators about the arrest. “But at the other end of the spectrum, you don’t want to see two lives really lost. My question would be, why did he run from the scene? Everybody makes mistakes. You have a man sitting there on the ground that is critically hurt. Why would you not render aid?”
FHP says Brown was arrested at a gas station less than 10 minutes away from where the crash happened.
Jerol said he never lost faith that there would be an arrest in the case and praised FHP for its work.
“They would get in contact with me every 30 days or so,” he said. “I cannot thank them enough for what they did. They did not stop working on it.”
He said life without his only son is still hard, but he is learning how to cope with it. There are daily reminders that help him get through his grief.
“[Jerry] was smiling all the time,” Jerol said. “Everything that I did, he was pretty much doing with me. Going to races, going fishing, working on cars.”
Memories he says he holds on to while hoping for justice to prevail.
Brown is being held in the Clay County Jail on a $750,000 bond. He is expected to be back in court in late July.