Driver finished work-release on day of fatal crash

The mother who authorities say crashed an SUV while driving under the influence and caused her 15-year-old daughter's death had successfully completed an eight-month sentence at the Orange County Jail's work-release program only hours before the crash.

Leticia Ann Murray was released at 8:45 a.m. Monday from jail custody. About 7 p.m., she wrecked a Ford Explorer at the SuperTarget store parking lot on West Colonial Drive.

After Murray's daughter Tiffany Childrey died at Orlando Regional Medical Center, investigators traveled to Ocoee Health Central hospital and arrested Murray on charges of DUI manslaughter, vehicular homicide and driving without a license. She was freed from the jail Tuesday after posting a $10,000 bail. She had been treated for minor injuries.

Murray, who worked as a housekeeper at the Radisson Twin Towers hotel off Kirkman Road, repeatedly violated a four-year probation before being arrested last September on a warrant. In 2002 she pleaded guilty to failing to return $4,895 worth of appliances and furniture from a rental store a year earlier.

After the September arrest, a judge ordered her to serve eight months in jail with credit for 45 days previously served and recommended she enter the work-release program. Murray has no other crimes in Florida.

Trooper Kim Miller, an FHP spokeswoman, said investigators have yet to estimate the speed Murray was driving when she crashed.

"Witnesses told us they saw the vehicle fishtailing out of control," Miller said. "Obviously, we think that speed was a factor."

No one was wearing a seat belt when the SUV crashed against a tree. Two other daughters, Nieasha Beane, 11, and Tera'nika Murray, 10, were treated and released to their grandmother, Minnie Murray. On Tuesday, she would not comment. Records show Minnie Murray has sought the state's help to force her daughter to provide financial support for the children, who live with the grandmother.

Copyright (c) 2004, Orlando Sentinel | By Pedro Ruz Gutierrez, Sentinel Staff Writer
 

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