Driver kills motorcyclist, turns around and kills woman helping him, FL cops say

A man accused of crashing into a motorcyclist then made a U-turn and “mowed down a Good Samaritan” rendering aid, killing both, Florida authorities said.

Now, a judge has sentenced 41-year-old Michael Kraft to five terms of life in prison, the State Attorney’s Office for the 18th Judicial Circuit announced April 16. The sentences will run concurrently.

The sentence comes after a jury convicted Kraft of two counts each of DUI manslaughter, vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of a crash resulting in death, prosecutors said.

McClatchy News reached out to Kraft’s attorney for comment April 17 but did not immediately receive a response.

Officers with the Sanford Police Department got a call about a motorcyclist down and arrived at the scene the afternoon of March 29, 2021, according to an arrest affidavit filed in Seminole County.

A group of people, including 39-year-old Jenica Campbell, had rushed to help the motorcyclist, as the driver involved in the crash didn’t stop, witnesses told police.

That’s when the same blue car that hit the motorcyclist made a U-turn and started driving back toward the crash, according to authorities.

Police said they watched as the driver, later identified as Kraft, drove across the median, into the oncoming lanes of traffic and hit Campbell as she was helping the biker.

Kraft didn’t stop then either and continued driving on the side of the road until he hit a fence and came to a stop in a trench, police said. Officers took him out of the car at gunpoint, according to the report.

Campbell and the motorcyclist, 73-year-old Vincent Russo, both died, prosecutors said.

Law enforcement reported Kraft showed “obvious” signs of impairment, and prosecutors maintained he was under the influence of methamphetamine.

His defense attorney filed a notice to rely upon an insanity defense, saying Kraft had schizoaffective disorder, after he was found incompetent to stand trial in August 2021.

The case proceeded after he was found competent to stand trial in February, records show.

“At a sentencing hearing April 16, Mr. Russo and Mrs. Campbell’s surviving family members spoke of the devastating impact Kraft’s actions have had on their lives,” prosecutors said.

Sanford is about a 25-mile drive north from Orlando.

This story was originally published April 17, 2025 at 10:34 AM with the headline "Driver kills motorcyclist, turns around and kills woman helping him, FL cops say."