Powers Guilty of DUI Manslaughter in Wrong-way Head-on Collision

BAY COUNTY, FL - A man driving in the wrong lanes on State 79 with more than twice the legal blood-alcohol limit was found guilty Thursday of DUI Manslaughter and other charges resulting from the head-on collision he caused.

State Attorney Larry Basford said John Edward Powers, 57, of Bruce, was found guilty of DUI Manslaughter in the death of Kenyotta Michelle Brown, and two counts of DUI Causing Serious Bodily Injury to Savannah Desiree Gandy and Justin Weston. A fourth passenger in the car suffered minor injuries. Sentencing is set for June 12 at 9 a.m. 

“Thanks to the hard work of the Florida Highway Patrol, Bay County Sheriff’s Office, and FDLE, justice was achieved for Ms. Brown, Ms. Gandy, and Mr. Weston,” said Prosecutor Peter Overstreet. 

After the verdict, family members expressed gratitude for the verdict, saying that with the truth out and the suspect convicted, Brown can rest in peace.

Overstreet called 13 witnesses over two days to prove Powers, with a .20 blood-alcohol level, was driving south in the northbound lanes of State 79 when he hit a car driven by Gandy head-on a few miles north of Panama City Beach near County 388. It is illegal in Florida to drive with a blood-alcohol level of .08 or higher.

“What we have is a highly intoxicated man who was driving the wrong way down Hwy. 79 when he struck (the victim’s car) as they were heading north to Caryville,” Overstreet told jurors. “He didn’t even know where he had crashed or that he was almost in Panama City Beach.”

Gandy, driving north on 79 with her friends to Caryville, said when she saw headlights and realized they were in her lane, she only had time to jerk the wheel to the left. The defendant’s right front collided directly with Gandy’s right front, sending both vehicles spiraling clockwise.

Jurors saw pictures from the scene, a diagram showing the point of impact and subsequent travel of the vehicles and heard from Florida Highway Patrol Cpl. Jonathan Gentry. Gentry said the laws of physics and the evidence at the scene could only lead to one conclusion: the defendant was driving south in the northbound lanes at the time of the wreck.

“It’s basic physics,” Overstreet said. “There’s no other way for this to happen. One hundred times out of 100 times, when you repeat this kind of collision (passenger front to passenger front), this is what happens.”

Brown, the front-seat passenger in Gandy’s car, did not survive. Gandy was life-flighted to the hospital with a broken femur, her ankle broken in three places and multiple other injuries. Weston had a broken femur, broken shoulder and other injuries

Basford thanked the multiple agencies involved and the FHP for its analysis of the wreck that proved there was only one way it could have happened.