TAVARES, Florida—More than a year after a beloved local musician was killed in a hit-and-run crash, the driver pleaded guilty to leaving the scene and was sentenced to five years in prison Monday.
Inside Lake was in the courtroom when Justin Thomas Flower, 39, pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of the crash that killed Robert “Bobby” Wilson July 23, 2022. Flower was originally charged with manslaughter and leaving the scene of a crash causing death in November 2022, but as part of his plea agreement, the manslaughter charge was dropped, and he pleaded guilty to the remaining charge.
He was sentenced to five years in prison and must serve a minimum of four years but will get credit for the nearly four months he served following his arrest in November 2022; Flower was held on no bond in the Lake County Jail until the bond was reduced to $5,000 in late April, and as a condition of his bond he was fitted with a GPS ankle monitor. Flower will also lose his driver license for five years after he is released from prison.
Wilson’s mother, Valerie Newman and his son, Justin Wilson attended the hearing, but decided not to speak. Newman was visibly emotional as the charge and agreement was read in open court. She shared the statement she planned to read Monday with Inside Lake, and we chose to publish it in its entirety.
This is a heartbreaking day for me today. Part of me did not want to give any kind of a statement. But my heart needs to give a statement. I guess I just don’t understand why we even should be here. You and my son were friends, I thought. I just can’t understand, cannot comprehend, how you could be speeding down that road, hit and kill him, then drive away as if nothing ever happened. As if his life was worthless. But you did. But you need to know, his life was not worthless. Not only to his family, but to the hundreds, thousands, of people who have contacted us with broken hearts. He was precious to me, to his brother, to his stepfather, and to his children and grandchildren, and nieces and nephews. You will go to prison now. Sadly, if you hadn’t left him, you wouldn’t be. If you had stayed and called 911 immediately, his life might have been saved. But we will never know. I want you to know, however, that I do forgive you. I will pray for you. I will pray that you have an experience with God that will cushion you and guide you through the next few years. So that at some point in your life you can help to guide other young people into making the right decisions for their lives. I want Bobby’s life to be valuable and cherished. I want people to remember not only his music, but the amazing love he had for all of his friends, including you. – Valerie Newman
On July 23, 2022, Robert “Bobby” Wilson, 50, was attempting to push his minivan off a curb on Old U.S. Highway 441 across from Dairy Queen in Mount Dora when good Samaritan Michael Dickey saw him and stopped to help.
“I thought, man, somebody is going to hit him,” Dickey told Inside Lake earlier this year, “and I’ll be damned if what I thought happened.
Wilson’s tire could not gain any traction and after unsuccessfully trying to push the minivan off the curb, Dickey suggested they use his truck, a Nissan Frontier. Dickey had a flashlight in his hand and was starting to attach a strap to the minivan when the white 2015 Hyundai Genesis Flower was driving came speeding down Old U.S. Highway 441.
The Hyundai came straight at them, Dickey jumped out the way and the car struck Wilson first throwing him several feet, then struck the back end of Wilson’s minivan and finally Dickey’s truck, hitting it with such force, it spun around. All three vehicles were totaled.
Wilson was airlifted to Orlando Regional Medical Center after the crash, where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy later determined Wilson died from a skull fracture and brain bleed caused by the crash.
Flower fled the scene and managed to drive the mangled Hyundai about a half of a mile down the road. He got out of the car and, “He was pacing around and around,” Dickey told Inside Lake. Two unidentified women stopped to help him, and he reportedly told them he was fine, and “There’s a bad accident down there you need to go the other way.” The women continued toward the crash site, Dickey said, and “suddenly he (Flower) was gone,” but he left the disabled Hyundai in the middle of the road.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Mount Dora Police Department contacted the registered owner of the Hyundai and she said she lent the car to Flower and Flower was at a home on Morningside Drive, less than a mile from the crash site. MDPD spoke with Flower, and he said he struck a dog that jumped into the roadway. He claimed to have no memory of the crash and woke up the following morning at the home on Morningside Drive wondering how he got there. During later questioning Flower admitted to drinking “a beer and a shot” prior to the crash, the affidavit states.
Nearly three months later, a warrant was issued for Flower’s arrest, and he ran to Jackson County, North Carolina, Wilson’s daughter Emily Lowe told Inside Lake in January. He was apprehended in North Carolina in late November and extradited to Lake County Dec. 30 after he spent more than a month in jail in North Carolina, according to Lake County Clerk of Court online records. He was held in LCJ until he bonded out in April and was taken back into custody Monday after his plea.
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A tribute to Robert “Bobby” Wilson. Reposted with permission from the Wilson family.
