HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — It was dawn on the morning of March 13, 2022. Brunilda and Agustin Sosa were on their way to church.
“It was a Sunday. It was like any other Sunday," Brunilda said. "We were praying, you know, singing, we were happy coming to church."
Then the tire blew out. They were traveling northbound on I-275 near Fowler Avenue.
“He said, ‘Bruni, do not get out of the car,'" she told the ABC Action News I-Team.
Within minutes, another member of Iglesia Tampa Bay Para Cristo, David Camacho, stopped to help Agustin change the front left tire.
“I looked at David, and he went like this to me," Brunilda said, waving. "Like hello. Went around, and he stood up right in front of Agustin, and I put my head down, and I heard this noise, like dragging something."
Brunilda said it felt like a bad dream.
"I couldn’t understand. I got out of the car, and I went looking for Agustin because he was on the left side changing the tire, but he wasn’t there. So I went around looking for him and found him," Brunilda said. "So I started praying, 'God, bring him back.'"
A 2016 Red Nissan Altima hit and killed the two men — her 73-year-old husband and 30-year-old Camacho.
"After God? He was everything to me," Brunilda said.
The couple married when she was 17, and he was 21 years old. They had recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.
Camacho left behind his then-pregnant wife and child. He was known as a young leader in his church.
ABC Action News | Driving Tampa Bay Forward
Brunilda called her pastor, David Cantillo.
“She is screaming and crying and saying his heart stopped and, you know, all this. I didn’t know what was going on," Cantillo told the I-Team, fighting back tears. “We can say, 'Why would God allow that?' And we don’t know.”
In the absence of answers, loved ones sought justice but only had more questions.
As a state-certified interpreter for the past decade, Cantillo is familiar with the criminal justice system in Hillsborough County. He told the I-Team that he and the family members were baffled when months passed with no charges filed against the driver.
"I don’t know why we haven’t seen what we expected in this case. I am sure that the judges and the legal system have their reasons, but I do not understand those reasons," Cantillo said.
Brunilda said she did not understand the delay.
"Why he’s on the street. I have no words to… why?" he said.
The driver, Tamarcus Kendrick, was not charged until a year after the crash. The Hillsborough County State Attorney's Office told the I-Team it received Florida Highway Patrol's (FHP) investigation in 2023 and "cannot file charges without having received the crash report."
FHP Public Affairs Office Sgt. Steve Gaskins told the I-Team that, on average, criminal traffic cases often take investigators six months or more. He said, "We don't get a second chance to get it right," and that the moment charges are filed, double jeopardy and speedy trial rules apply.
"Awaiting toxicology reports, autopsy reports, witness statements, and report review are common issues. Caseload plays a role as well for the individual investigator. In this case, the corporal left the position, and the case was reassigned," Gaskins said via email.
The I-Team obtained FHP's police report, revealing there was no evidence Kendrick was under the influence of alcohol or a chemical substance. During the on-scene investigation, Kendrick said he was heading home from working overnight and that he "recalled hearing a loud noise but was not sure what had occurred" and "believed he may have fallen asleep." He said he drove up to the Fletcher exit before turning around and returning to the scene.
April 2023, 13 months after the crash that killed Sosa and Camacho, the state attorney's office charged Kendrick with two counts of "driving without a valid driver's license death."
Kendrick was referred to Gracepoint's inpatient mental health treatment program after being found incompetent, but that was put on pause after he was charged with another crime — aggravated assault with a deadly weapon on the mother of his child.
In September, the state asked the judge for Kendrick's' pre-trial release to be revoked, and he was taken into custody.
The I-Team contacted the public defender's office for comment and asked if there was anything Kendrick wanted to say to the families or the public. The response — no comment.
Brunilda, however, did have something more to say.
“These are two great men that we lost and we miss."
Kendrick's next competency hearing is scheduled for Nov. 28.
This story came from a tip. If you have something you'd like the I-Team to investigate, email kylie.mcgivern@wfts.com.
