Man sentenced to 15 years in prison for deadly Bay County crash

BAY COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) - A man who caused a fatal crash while he was wearing only his boxer shorts was back in a Bay County courtroom on Thursday. A jury found 49-year-old Anthony Charles Hill Jr. guilty of DUI manslaughter back in April. On April 14th 2023, Hill was driving south when he crossed the centerline and hit the victim's vehicle head on. Evidence shows that the victim's car broke down on County 22-A near Cherry Lane that night. A friend came to help and was parked behind the victim. Both of their headlights and hazard lights were on. When the Hill struck the victim's vehicle, it flipped backwards, hitting and killing 23-year-old Javis Whipple, who was headed to college. "He made a mistake. It was just an accident. I feel bad for the young man's mother, father, I know they're going through a lot. My son been through a lot, lost a lot of weight, he's been sick, and he cries hard to me night and day for this young man. I know he has remorse. And I'm remorseful for the family. And I hate what happened," Hill's mother Mary Hill said. Hill was seen exiting his vehicle in only his boxer shorts and he had an estimated blood alcohol concentration of up to .23. "Since this situation happened, it's been very nice that he has called me and we cried together. And I pray with him because it was becoming a little bit too much for him. It was. And 'm just being honest about it. He told me that he wanted to take his life because of this, because of the situation of what happened, and I prayed with him, just believing that god is going to just soothe him and not let him do something drastic because of a mistake that was made," Hill's cousin and pastor said. "My son, he's a good boy. I raised him, and he turned out to be just like me. I love him," Hill's father, Anthony Hill Sr. said. Despite the heartfelt testimony, Judge Shonna Young Gay sentenced Hill to the maximum 15 years in prison. Four of the 15 years are minimum-mandatory for Hill. His driver's license is also permanently revoked.