A 23-year-old Clay County man died nearly four months after 93% of his body was burned in a fiery four-car crash in Orange Park, according to his family.
Following the crash in April, Gavin Conroy was in critical condition at UF Health Shands Burn Unit in Gainesville. His family said that both of his legs and several fingers were amputated and that he went through more than two dozen surgeries.
On Wednesday, his mother told News4JAX that he died.
The crash happened April 14 at Wells Road and Debarry Avenue — as Conroy was on his way to work at the Outback Steakhouse.
“My son was stopped at a red light,” said Conroy’s mother, Donna Conroy, told News4JAX last month.
According to an arrest report, Clifford Ringer, 40, of Middleburg, rear-ended Conroy’s car, causing him to crash into two other vehicles In front of him. A report from the Florida Highway Patrol shows Ringer was arrested on charges of driving with a suspended license with third or subsequent conviction, and driving on a suspended license in a crash with serious bodily injury.
Records show Ringer has had multiple citations over the course of several years. That includes July 2, less than three months after the crash involving Conroy. Prosecutors said Ringer, who was out on bond, ran a red light — the same scenario that prosecutors said led to the April crash.
After that, a judge revoked Ringer’s bond.
“I just feel a little bit of relief knowing he’s off the streets,” Stacie Whitlatch, Conroy’s aunt, said at the time.
Ringer is being held in the Clay County jail as his attorneys are trying to get him a bond. A hearing for a motion to set a bond is scheduled for Monday.
Now that Conroy has died, it’s unclear whether Ringer’s charges will be upgraded. News4JAX has reached out to the State Attorney’s Office. Conroy’s mother told News4JAX by on the phone that she wants harsher penalties.