By Kim Wilmath and Danny Valentine, Times Staff Writers
Friday, September 3, 2010
TAMPA — A preacher and his wife were identified as the victims of a fatal car crash Thursday night at an east Tampa intersection.
Police said Walter Charles Givens, 67, and Dione Givens, 55, died a few blocks from their home at 3108 East Chelsea St., north of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
A friend who was in the car also died, but her identity has not been released. She was 58.
Police said the driver was Ernest Smith, 20, of Tampa. His two passengers, both from Tampa, were identified as Patrick Cover, 30, and DeAndre Bugg, 22. All three were hurt and taken to Tampa General Hospital, but rescuers did not consider their injuries life threatening.
More than 100 people came out to the scene after the 8:41 p.m. crash, some complaining that the intersection of 34th and Chelsea streets is dangerous.
This was the 11th crash at that intersection since Jan. 1, 2008, according to the Tampa Police Department. It was the only fatal one.
Neighbors said views of oncoming traffic are obstructed by a building on the northeast corner of Chelsea that forces drivers to pull beyond the traffic signs to see if anyone is coming. But Tampa police spokeswoman Andrea Davis said that building was not a factor in this crash because the vehicles were heading south and east.
State records show that Smith has been arrested twice in Florida, on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and drug possession. He has been on felony probation for the assault charge since March, according to the Department of Corrections, and was scheduled to finish probation in 2012.
Smith was cited twice in Hillsborough County in 2009 for speeding, according to the clerk of the circuit court of Hillsborough County.
The Givenses were married in 1998, according to court records. Each been married before and had three children, said Walter Givens' ex-wife's sister, Lillie Mingo, 57.
Though divorced, Givens and his ex-wife, Ernestine, stayed close friends, Mingo said.
The two families often gathered for picnics. Walter Givens loved to dance, and Dione was always ready to strike up a conversation.
"She was just like one of the family, too," Mingo said of Dione Givens. "They were just fun-loving people."
Mingo said Givens worked for years as a Tampa garbage collector, but his life's calling was to preach. He often traveled to other states with fellow ministers, spreading his Christian message.
When Mingo and her husband renewed their vows seven years ago, Givens did the honors.
Mingo's brother, David Harris Sr., 59, said Givens was different in his youth. "He was wild," Harris said, but that changed when he started hanging out with a new crowd of people and found God.
He was always ready with advice, telling Harris "to keep my head up, that all my help would come from the Lord above."
Harris said Givens liked to read mysteries and dramas.
"You know how some people have a shelf full of shoes? He had a shelf full of novels," Harris said.
He like sports, too, and watched the Mets play any time they came to town.
Mrs. Givens worked at the Oakwood Park Su Casa nursing home, at 1514 E Chelsea St., about a mile down the street from the couple's home.
Givens typically drove his wife to work and would pick her up at the end of the day, said Mingo. They rarely spent time apart.
"They loved one another so much," Mingo said, "and they died right there together."
Times news researcher Natalie Watson contributed to this report.