TAMPA (WFLA) – Nearly three weeks after a deadly street racing crash, friends and family are mourning the loss of 16-year-old Payton Fordyce.
Tampa police have arrested and charged two teens in connection to the early morning crash on Adamo Drive east of 50th Street.
“We’re just mindblown to be honest,” Payton’s friend Julian Matos said. “We can’t wrap our heads around it.”
Friends have made a memorial for Fordyce by the site of the crash with flowers and candles.
“Don’t drink and drive at all and street racing isn’t ok, especially off a two lane road,” said Lorenzo Mitchell, who was friends with Payton’s since middle school.
Payton’s mother shared with 8 On Your Side a photo of her son with his two older sisters.
“Payton was the happiest kid ever,” Mitchell said. “Positive vibes. Always was joking. Always was laughing. Always was the sweetest kid to anybody.”
The Tampa police DUI and traffic homicide units conducted a thorough investigation that led to the two arrests.
“They were able to determine that there was two vehicles that were racing on Adamo Drive,” TPD Lt. Lisa Parashis said. “They reached almost speeds of approximately 120 miles per hour.”
Police arrested and charged 19-year-old Kristopher Trenker and a 17-year-old boy with vehicular homicide.
“There are teens that they think they’re out joy riding — having a fun time — they don’t understand the dangers involved,” Lt. Parashis said.
The 17-year-old also faces a DUI manslaughter charge. Police said an FDLE lab test confirmed he had a BAC of .08.
Police said they do not believe Payton was restrained in the backseat of the 17-year-old’s car when it rolled over after swerving to avoid another car. He was partially ejected.
“I think the biggest lesson I’ll take from this myself is just tomorrow isn’t promised,” Mitchell said. “So I just say drive safely. Wear your seatbelt, always.”
Just last year a Hillsborough County judge sentenced a teen driver to 24 years in prison for the 2018 street racing crash on Bayshore Boulevard that killed a young mother and her baby.
The legal process for the teens charged in this street racing case is just beginning.
