PASCO COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — The mother of a 24-year-old FDOT Road Ranger who was killed while assisting at a crash on Interstate 75 is honoring her son’s memory, saying he built his life around helping others.
For his mother, Antonio Marazita’s work was the kind that naturally brought worry. He spent his days helping stranded and endangered drivers along some of the Tampa Bay area’s busiest highways — and he lost his life while doing that job.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Marazita was working to set up a lane closure after responding to a two-vehicle crash on I-75 in Pasco County on Sunday night when 40-year-old Darren Jenkins drove between two FDOT Road Ranger trucks and hit him.
Marazita was pronounced dead at the scene. Jenkins was taken into custody and faces charges including DUI manslaughter.
“He wasn’t supposed to not come home,” said Joi Marazita, Antonio’s mother. “He called me every day at work at 10:03 to tell me, ‘I’m on my way home.’”
Joi Marazita said her son had always been driven by a desire to serve. He had earned a college degree, was nearing completion of a master’s degree in criminal justice and had recently applied to become a Tampa police officer.
“He was going places,” she said.
She said her son understood the dangers that came with working on Florida’s highways but trusted the training that prepared him for those risks.
“He knew what he had to do to stay safe. From what I understand, he did,” she said. “He had a split second, and he didn’t get a chance to move.”
A newly released arrest report alleges Jenkins was involved in a hit-and-run crash in Ocala before driving south into Pasco County, where investigators said he crashed into the active scene where Antonio Marazita was working.
According to the report, troopers found Jenkins drinking mouthwash at the scene before he later failed field sobriety exercises. The report states he was then arrested on DUI manslaughter charges.
Joi Marazita said the loss has left her family devastated.
“He took away my world. My heart is broken,” she said. “Every time I close my eyes, all I see is my son… and I’m waiting for him to call me or come in the door.”
The Florida Highway Patrol said the investigation remains ongoing. Jenkins remains in the Pasco County Jail on DUI manslaughter and related charges.
