Search fatalities

Alexia Simpson

Age : 17

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 :

.
REASON FOR POLICE CHASE:
Stolen vehicle. West Palm Beach Police Department GHOST officers encountered a stolen 2019 Nissan Rogue driven by 17-year-old Christopher Garrett Jr. The Nissan had been stolen after Garrett and two friends left a foster-care group outing at Rapids Water Park and took a patron’s purse containing the vehicle's key fob. Police had information that the three missing teenagers were in the stolen, previously unoccupied vehicle. GHOST officers attempted to stop the Nissan near Beeline Highway and Jog Road, and officers Neil Sterk and Casey Stripling pursued when Garrett continued driving away.
.
EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 07/30/2021, 17-year-old Alexia Simpson was killed while riding as a passenger in a stolen Nissan Rogue pursued by West Palm Beach Police Department GHOST officers. Fourteen-year-old passenger Jay’Oni Leonard and uninvolved motorists Elizabeth Anderson and George Nienhouse were also killed. Garrett survived with critical injuries.
.
Alexia, Garrett and Jay’Oni were teenagers living in foster care in the West Palm Beach area. They lived in different foster homes. Earlier that day, Garrett had left a group-home outing at Rapids Water Park with the two girls. The Nissan they subsequently entered had been reported stolen, and Riviera Beach police circulated information concerning the missing teenagers and stolen vehicle.
.
West Palm Beach GHOST officers located and conducted surveillance of the Nissan. Sterk and Stripling activated their emergency equipment and attempted a traffic stop near Beeline Highway and Jog Road. Garrett continued driving north and the officers pursued. Detective Pierre Etienne followed farther behind the two officers.
.
Sterk and Stripling subsequently reported that they terminated the pursuit at approximately 4:05 p.m. near Northlake Boulevard, about one minute after it began and approximately 3½ miles south of the eventual crash. They reported remaining at Northlake Boulevard after discontinuing the pursuit.
.
Evidence obtained years later raised questions about that account. Body-camera footage recorded Stripling at the fatal crash scene telling another officer that police had “followed it down” to make sure the Nissan was out of the area before encountering the crash. WLRN reported in 2026 that the statement was inconsistent with written accounts indicating the officers remained at Northlake Boulevard after terminating the pursuit.
.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office nevertheless concluded from its investigation that the formal pursuit ended at Northlake Boulevard and Beeline Highway. No PIT/TVI maneuver, stop sticks, roadblock or intentional police-vehicle contact with the Nissan was identified.
.
Garrett continued north toward PGA Boulevard at extremely high speed. Investigators determined that he entered the intersection against a red traffic signal while traveling at approximately 100 mph or more.
.
The Nissan struck the left side of a 2010 Nissan Xterra driven by 62-year-old Elizabeth Anderson. The impact caused Anderson to lose control and be ejected. Anderson and her passenger, 65-year-old George Nienhouse, died at the scene.
.
Jay’Oni was also pronounced dead at the scene. Alexia survived the initial impact and was transported to a hospital, where she died from her injuries. Garrett survived and was initially hospitalized in critical condition.
.
Alexia was only 17 and was living in foster care when she died. ChildNet, the foster-care placement organization, confirmed that Alexia, Jay’Oni and Garrett were foster youths but lived in separate foster homes. Alexia's death therefore ended the life of a teenager who was already navigating the foster-care system, not merely an unnamed passenger in Garrett's vehicle.
.
Investigators later reported that toxicology testing found Delta-9 THC in Garrett's blood. That evidence was developed after the crash and was not the reason West Palm Beach police initiated the attempted stop; police pursued because the Nissan had been reported stolen.
.
Garrett was prosecuted as an adult. A judge rejected an initial plea agreement calling for a 10-year prison term, stating that the proposed punishment was inadequate given the four deaths. Garrett subsequently pleaded guilty to four counts of vehicular homicide and one count of grand theft and was sentenced on 05/12/2022 to 15 years in prison. Prosecutors dropped the DUI-manslaughter and other counts under the plea agreement.
.
OFFICER BACKGROUND:
West Palm Beach Police Department GHOST officers Neil Sterk and Casey Stripling conducted the pursuit. Detective Pierre Etienne followed behind them. Records obtained by WLRN in 2026 showed that the specialized GHOST unit operated with unmarked vehicles and a separate radio channel and lacked written unit-specific objectives, training manuals and policies.
.
Etienne subsequently became involved in another fatal West Palm Beach police pursuit on 07/30/2024, exactly three years after Alexia's death. That pursuit killed uninvolved motorists Marcia Pochette and her pregnant daughter Jenice Woods. Etienne and other officers were subsequently criminally charged over conduct associated with that later case. Those charges concern the separate 2024 incident and do not establish criminal wrongdoing by Etienne in Alexia's death.
.
DISPOSITION:
Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office investigators concluded that the formal police pursuit ended approximately 3½ miles before the fatal collision. No officers were criminally charged over the 2021 pursuit. Later body-camera evidence and investigative reporting raised questions about whether GHOST officers nevertheless continued following the Nissan after the point where they reported terminating the pursuit. Garrett pleaded guilty to four counts of vehicular homicide and grand theft and received a 15-year prison sentence.
.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/regional/florida/teen-charged-speeding-crash-killed-4/67-79b998ee-173e-4255-905f-73e6fa879fb0
https://www.wpbf.com/article/deadly-crash-shuts-down-beeline-highway-near-pga-boulevard/37184576
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article254256933.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/judge-rejects-plea-deal-deadly-palm-beach-crash/
https://www.wptv.com/news/crime/christopher-garrett-jr-sentenced-to-15-years-in-prison-for-fatal-beeline-highway-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