Fender-Bender Turns Into Horrific Attack on Family
By Merissa Green
THE LEDGER
Published: Monday, August 18, 2008 at 12:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at 3:10 a.m.
LAKE HAMILTON | What started as a perfect day at the beach ended in a bizarre and deadly tragedy Sunday night for a Kissimmee man and his family.
George Aycrigg | The News Chief
POLK COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE detectives Aaron Campbell, left, and Matthew Newbold escort murder suspect Casey Weldon Till to a patrol car at Bartow Air Base on Monday
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Mario Despaigne is recuperating at home today, two days after the death of his wife and the stabbing of his daughter and her boyfriend.
Polk County Sheriff's investigators arrested 26-year-old Casey Weldon Till of Haines City, and charged him with murder, attempted murder, carjacking and battery on a law enforcement officer following the incident.
An interview with Despaigne, 41, a carpenter who has been out of work for three months, and Sheriff's Office reports, provide the following account of the incident:
Shortly before 11 p.m. Sunday, Despaigne and his family were driving back to Kissimmee from their day at the beach.
Despaigne was driving a 2000 Nissan Altima with his wife of 21 years, Odalis Cespedes, and their 6-month-old granddaughter, Johanna Despaigne, in the car.
The couple's 19-year-old daughter, Ivon Despaigne, a student at Metropolitan University, and her boyfriend, Angel Gonzalez, 21, also of Kissimmee, were following him in Gonzalez's 2008 Scion wagon.
The two vehicles were traveling north on Watkins Road and had stopped to turn east onto Lake Hatchineha Road when Gonzalez's vehicle was hit from behind by a green Ford Windstar minivan driven by Till, of 1090 East Shady Cove, Lot 13, a sheriff's report said.
When Gonzalez and Ivon Despaigne got out of their vehicle to assess the damage, they were attacked by Till, who wielded a knife and slashed Gonzalez's throat and Ivon Despaigne's chest.
After the struggle, Gonzalez and Ivon Despaigne started running toward Mario Despaigne's car with Ivon yelling, "Daddy, daddy, look what this man has done to me. I'm going to die," Mario Despaigne said through an interpreter.
The wound was deep enough to affect arteries near her spine, the arrest report stated.
Despaigne and Cespedes, 41, who worked for Lowe's in Poinciana, got out of their car to help.
Meanwhile, Till got inside the Scion and started ramming into the Altima, Despaigne said.
The couple unbuckled their granddaughter from her car seat and Cespedes began running, holding the baby in her arms.
That's when Till ran over his wife's leg, Mario Despaigne said.
Till rammed the front of the Altima twice again, Despaigne said.
Despaigne ran to his wife and grabbed the baby.
When Till saw Cespedes was still moving, he ran over her again, killing her, Despaigne said.
Till got out of the Scion and began threatening him with the knife, Despaigne said.
Despaigne said he showed Till the baby in an attempt to calm him.
"I was frightened," he said. "I didn't know what to do."
In the meantime, Gonzalez got into Till's vehicle and tried to run Till over, knocking him to the ground, the arrest report said.
Gonzalez backed Till's vehicle up and attempted to run over him again, but Till rolled out of the way and ran into the woods on the north side of Lake Hatchineha Road, Despaigne and reports said.
At that point, Lake Hamilton police Officer David Hurst, who was on his way to work, drove up.
"If it wasn't for the police officer, I wouldn't be here today," Mario Despaigne said.
At first, Hurst thought he had come across a traffic accident. But Gonzalez pointed to the wooded area and Hurst saw Till running back to his vehicle.
Hurst pulled his service weapon and pointed it at Till, attempting to arrest him.
But Till gunned the vehicle and drove away, hitting Hurst with the minivan's open driver's side door.
Hurst was not injured, the Sheriff's Office said.
Till was tracked down through a pill bottle left at the scene that had Till's wife's name and address on it.
Deputies went to his house and discovered he had locked himself in a bathroom and had cut his wrists, the arrest report said.
Till told his wife that he had "screwed up" and he would be going to prison for life, the arrest report stated.
Till also called his mother, Brenda Till, and told her that he was involved in a car crash and "sliced some people up."
Till told investigators he was smoking crack cocaine at the time of the accident.
Till has an arrest history that began in 2000. He served 20 months in state prison for attempted burglary, fraudulent use of a credit card, grand theft of a motor vehicle and possession of methamphetamine.
His most recent charge prior to Sunday night's episode includes an aggravated assault charge that, because of lack of cooperation from the victim, was downgraded to a misdemeanor, according to the State Attorney's Office.
The Polk County Medical Examiner's Office said Cespedes died of asphyxiation. She also suffered severe burns.
Ivon Despaigne and Gonzalez were taken to Lakeland Regional Medical Center, where both are in critical condition.
Mario Despaigne and his granddaughter were not injured, the sheriff's office said.
[ Merissa Green can be reached at merissa.green@theledger.com or 863-401-6968. Esmeralda Garcia contributed to this report. ]
Note the completely unprovoked attack and the self-destruction afterwards. Also, it is interesting that the reporter's surname is Green. Talk about symbolism.
