TAMPA, Fla. — Editor's Note: The video above is from April 2021.
Swarms of social media accounts have recently been pushing for a reduction in Cameron Herrin's 24-year sentence in the 2018 deaths of a mother and her daughter after a street racing crash.
Tweets, TikToks, and posts are attempting to claim Herrin was a teenager who simply made a mistake. They've even tagged President Joe Biden, Gov. Ron DeSantis and the court system, among others in their pleas.
As of July 14, a Change.org petition has collected more than 18,000 signatures to "get [Herrin] another chance in court."
But what are the facts of this case? Here's a timeline of events that led up to Herrin entering a guilty plea and a judge determining his fate behind bars.
May 23, 2018: Police announce the arrest of Cameron Herrin, John Barrineau and Tristan Herrin in the deadly crash that took 24-year-old Jessica Raubenolt's life. Raubenolt was pushing her 21-month old daughter, Lillia, across the street in a stroller at the time of the crash.
Lillia was initially in critical condition as a result of the crash.
Investigators say a black 2018 Mustang, driven by Cameron Herrin was in the outside lane — closest to the sidewalk — and struck the mother and daughter.
A gold-colored Nissan, driven by Barrineau, came to a stop next to the Mustang. The parents of the two young drivers were there to console them. Both were clearly shaken and upset. Neither left the scene.
Authorities determined the two were street racing at the time of the crash.
May 25, 2018: Cameron Herrin, who initially bonded out of jail, is re-arrested for additional charges after 21-month-old Lillia dies.
The then 18-year-old's charges are upped to two counts of vehicular homicide, reckless driving with serious bodily injury and unlawful racing on a highway.
Barrineau, who at the time was still in the Hillsborough County Jail, had a second vehicular manslaughter charge added.
May 31, 2018: An arrest warrant reveals Cameron Herrin was traveling at 102 mph before he began breaking hard right before the crash. Investigators say they used "electronic evidence" from the Mustang to determine its speed.
The speed limit on Bayshore Boulevard at the time of the crash was 40 mph.
According to the warrant, Cameron Herrin also had the keys to the Mustang in his front pants pocket at the time of his arrest.
RELATED: Mustang driver going 102 mph on Bayshore before fatally hitting mom, daughter, says warrant
June 2018: Attorneys for Cameron Herrin and Barrineau enter a formal "not guilty" plea in the death of Jessica and Lillia Raubenolt.
The plea entry came just more than a month after the initial crash.
March 2019: Months after the crash, new documents detail the moments before the Bayshore Boulevard crash.
According to the documents, Jessica’s husband, David Raubenolt drove by the intersection where the crash happened moments before his family was hit.
In his statement to police, David says he called Jessica to let her know he was going to get food and would meet her and their baby at the house where they were staying.
When he arrived home, Jessica and Lillia were not there. That's when the report states he saw the police activity and ran down the street.
December 2020: Both Cameron Herrin and Barrineau change their pleas after their lawyers reveal the two negotiated plea agreements with prosecutors.
Barrineau pleaded guilty to two counts of vehicular homicide and a misdemeanor racing charge in exchange for six years in state prison, followed by 15 years of probation. A judge accepted the plea which included waiving Barrineau's sentencing rights as a juvenile — which he was at the time of the crash.
Barrineau's driver's license is suspended for five years and he is required to complete 200 hours of community service upon his release.
Herrin, on the other hand, will enter an "open plea," which would basically put him at the mercy of the judge. The court would be able to hear arguments from the prosecutors and defense team, but the judge will ultimately rule on his fate as opposed to a jury.
RELATED: Man sentenced to 6 years in prison, 2nd man awaits fate in deadly Bayshore street racing case
April 2021: A judge finds Cameron Herrin guilty of the mother and daughter's 2018 deaths and sentences him to more than two decades in prison.
He was found guilty on two counts of vehicular homicide and sentenced to nine years in Florida state prison for the first count and 15 years for the second count.
"There's really nothing that the court can do that's capable of fixing the harm that has been caused to the victims in this case," Hillsborough Circuit Judge Christopher Nash said at the time.
May 2021: Court documents show Cameron Herrin filed to appear his 24-year sentence. The now 21-year-old had a 30-day window following his sentencing to file such documents.
The Clerk of Courts website lists the status of the appeal as pending. As of July 14, no upcoming hearings have been set.
During the same month, prosecutors dropped the racing charge against Tristan Herrin who was determined to be a passenger at the time of the crash.
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