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Jay'Oni Leonard

Age : 14

Gender : Female

Race : Black

Date : 07/30/2021

Location : Beeline Highway and PGA Boulevard

City : Palm Beach Gardens

County : Palm Beach

State : Florida

Agency : West Palm Beach Police Department

Officer(s) :Neil Sterk; Casey Stripling; Pierre Etienne

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Passenger killed by police chase crash

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

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REASON FOR POLICE CHASE:
Stolen vehicle. West Palm Beach Police Department GHOST unit officers encountered a 2019 Nissan Rogue that had been stolen from Rapids Water Park earlier that afternoon. Fourteen-year-old Jay’Oni Leonard was a passenger in the SUV. Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, which was driven by 17-year-old Christopher Garrett Jr., and Sterk and Stripling pursued it north on Beeline Highway.
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EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 07/30/2021, 14-year-old Jay’Oni Leonard was killed while riding as a passenger in a stolen Nissan Rogue that crashed after West Palm Beach Police Department GHOST officers pursued it north on Beeline Highway. Seventeen-year-old passenger Alexia Simpson and uninvolved motorists Elizabeth Anderson and George Nienhouse were also killed.
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West Palm Beach GHOST officers Neil Sterk and Casey Stripling attempted to stop the Nissan and pursued it north on Beeline Highway. Detective Pierre Etienne reported that he was approximately six to eight cars behind Sterk and Stripling and became stuck in traffic. Etienne said he did not activate his emergency lights or body camera during the attempted stop.
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Sterk and Stripling later reported that at approximately 4:05 p.m., roughly one minute after initiating the pursuit, they discontinued it at Northlake Boulevard. That location was approximately 3½ miles south of the eventual crash scene. They said they stopped there and notified other officers.
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Later-obtained body-camera evidence raised questions about that account. At the crash scene, Stripling told another officer, “We followed it down just to make sure it was out of the area,” and said they then encountered the crash. WLRN reported in 2026 that this statement was inconsistent with the officers' written accounts that they had remained at Northlake Boulevard after terminating the pursuit.
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The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, which investigated the fatal collision, maintained that evidence showed the formal pursuit ended at Northlake Boulevard and Beeline Highway. No PIT/TVI maneuver, stop sticks or police-vehicle contact with the Nissan was identified.
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Garrett continued north on Beeline Highway toward PGA Boulevard. Crash investigators subsequently determined that he was traveling approximately 98 mph immediately before the collision. Later criminal-case reporting described his speed as exceeding 100 mph during the events preceding the crash.
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At approximately 4:09 p.m., Garrett entered the intersection of Beeline Highway and PGA Boulevard against a red traffic signal. His Nissan struck the left side of a 2010 Nissan Xterra driven by 62-year-old Elizabeth Anderson. Anderson's passenger was 65-year-old George Nienhouse.
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The impact caused Anderson to lose control of the Xterra and be ejected. Anderson and Nienhouse were pronounced dead at the scene. Jay’Oni was also pronounced dead at the scene. Alexia Simpson was transported to a hospital, where she died. Garrett survived with critical injuries.
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Jay’Oni was only 14 years old and was living in foster care in the West Palm Beach area. Garrett and Alexia were also foster youths, although the three teenagers lived in different foster homes.
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Investigators subsequently determined that Garrett had Delta-9 THC in his blood. That finding was developed after the collision and was not the reason police initiated the pursuit; police became involved because the Nissan had been reported stolen.
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Garrett was prosecuted as an adult. He ultimately pleaded guilty to four counts of vehicular homicide and one count of grand theft. On 05/12/2022, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Prosecutors dropped four DUI-manslaughter counts and four counts involving driving without a valid license causing death or serious injury as part of the disposition.
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The police role in the pursuit received renewed scrutiny years later. WLRN obtained police records and body-camera footage and reported in January 2026 that the GHOST unit's involvement in the fatal pursuit had not previously been publicly disclosed in detail. The records identified Sterk and Stripling as the officers conducting the pursuit and Etienne as following behind.
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The reporting also found that West Palm Beach Police Department had no written objectives, training manuals or unit-specific policies for GHOST, a specialized Gang and Habitual Offender Suppression Team operating with unmarked vehicles and a separate radio channel.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
West Palm Beach Police Department GHOST officers Neil Sterk and Casey Stripling pursued the Nissan. Pierre Etienne was following behind and arrived at the fatal crash approximately one minute after the first 911 call. Etienne reported that he had been stuck six to eight cars behind the other officers and had not activated his emergency lights or body camera.
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Etienne subsequently became involved in another fatal West Palm Beach police pursuit on 07/30/2024, exactly three years after Jay’Oni's death. That pursuit ended with uninvolved motorists Marcia Pochette and her pregnant daughter Jenice Woods being killed. In 2025, Etienne and six other West Palm Beach officers were criminally charged in connection with their conduct surrounding that later pursuit. Etienne was charged with two felony counts of leaving the scene of a crash involving death and official misconduct. The charges are allegations and remain distinct from the 2021 case.
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DISPOSITION:
Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office investigators concluded that the formal West Palm Beach police pursuit had terminated at Northlake Boulevard approximately 3½ miles before the fatal collision. No criminal charges against Sterk, Stripling or Etienne resulted from the 2021 pursuit. Subsequent body-camera evidence and investigative reporting raised questions about whether officers continued following Garrett after the point at which they reported terminating the pursuit.
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SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/regional/florida/teen-charged-speeding-crash-killed-4/67-79b998ee-173e-4255-905f-73e6fa879fb0
https://www.wptv.com/news/crime/christopher-garrett-jr-charged-as-adult-in-crash-that-killed-4-on-beeline-highway
https://www.wpbf.com/article/deadly-crash-shuts-down-beeline-highway-near-pga-boulevard/37184576
https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/judge-rejects-plea-deal-deadly-palm-beach-crash/
https://www.wlrn.org/wlrn-investigations/2026-01-16/revealed-cops-in-south-florida-elite-ghost-unit-left-a-trail-of-red-flags-before-deadly-chase
https://www.wlrn.org/wlrn-investigations/2026-07-08/lawsuit-west-palm-beach-ghost-chases-wlrn-investigation