A Lake City man was sentenced to 15 years in prison and 10 years of supervised release on Tuesday for fleeing a traffic stop and colliding with a vehicle, killing the driver, in Gainesville in July 2024.
According to a Gainesville Police Department (GPD) release, Eric Baker, 22, of Lake City, pled guilty to charges of fleeing and attempting to elude, vehicular homicide-failure to render aid, reckless driving causing serious bodily injury and leaving the scene of a crash involving death.
The incident occurred around 6:40 p.m. on July 26, 2024, when GPD officers conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle with numerous traffic violations. The Infinity sedan came to a stop as officers approached but fled the area at a high rate of speed.
Officers did not pursue the vehicle and the sedan, traveling westbound on NW 10th Avenue, struck another vehicle at the intersection of NW 6th Street.
Baker fled on foot while emergency responders assisted the person in the vehicle hit, along with three people injured in the Infinity sedan. The three passengers in the Infinity were transported to the hospital in serious condition and the driver of the red Dodge sedan, Christopher Alvord, was pronounced dead.
Alachua County Sheriff’s deputies and GPD K-9 units apprehended Baker a short time later.
According to a WUFT article, Baker, aka Raw Youngin, a Lake City rapper, did not have a valid driver’s license and had an extensive record, with his first suspension in 2020. It was indefinitely suspended in 2021 after he failed to appear for a traffic summons and, later that year, was suspended. He also had an active state-wide felony warrant out of Columbia County for possession of a controlled substance.