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June 20, 2007
West Palm Beach man convicted and sentenced in hit and run case
State Attorney Steve Meadows announces the conviction and sentence, in Bay
County Circuit Court, of Ronald A. Joseph, Jr., on a charge of Leaving the
Scene of Accident Involving Death.
The two males, four females jury deliberated only 20 minutes before finding
Joseph, 36, of West Palm Beach, guilty of the March 10, 2006, crime.
Assistant State Attorney Tracy Smith presented evidence during the two-day
trial, that Joseph’s Ford F-150 pick-up struck 22-year old Jonathan
Kiker-Beury, of Panama City, as the victim walked along East 11th Street,
near the intersection of College Avenue. Kiker-Beury was thrown
approximately 78 feet after being struck. Another pedestrian was struck,
knocked into a ditch, and suffered minor injuries. Joseph drove away from
the scene and Panama City Police Department Officers found him on US Highway
98, near Michigan Avenue.
Joseph was sentenced, shortly after the verdict, to 113.3 months in state
prison. Florida law requires an inmate to serve at least 85 per cent of his
sentence.
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