BY DAN HILDEBRAN
A 23-year-old Lake Butler man was arrested on April 1 after a Florida Highway Patrol investigation said he was intoxicated and driving with a suspended license when he struck another vehicle head-on and killed a Gainesville woman.
Agelu Iosia Nunu was arrested for DUI manslaughter and for driving with a suspended or revoked license.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, on October 28, 2023, the defendant was driving a white 2015 Toyota Corolla northbound on State Road 121 just south of LaCrosse.
Troopers said that fog was dense in the area just before the 6:15 a.m. crash.
Investigators said Nunu crossed over the center line, passed the southbound lane, and onto the grass before correcting back toward the northbound lane.
At the same time, a Silver Honda Civic driven by Sonja Rebecca Lindee was driving southbound and, for unknown reasons, left the southbound lane and went into the northbound lane.
At the time of the collision, Nunu’s northbound Toyota was in the southbound lane, and Lindee’s northbound Honda was in the southbound lane. The two vehicles’ left portions made contact, sending the Honda into a residence and leaving the Toyota in the northbound lane.
Lindee was pronounced dead on the scene, and Nunu suffered a broken leg.
Witnesses, who extracted Nunu from his car, told troopers they smelled alcohol and that the defendant had slurred speech. One trooper made the same observation and obtained a search warrant for Nunu’s blood alcohol level.
Healthcare providers delayed giving Nunu pain medication until they drew blood for the test, one hour after the collision. The defendant’s blood alcohol level was 0.106.
A trooper later discovered that at the time of the crash, Nunu was on felony probation and prohibited from consuming alcohol.
