British Woman Tells Florida Jury of Shooting Incident at Rest Stop

A British woman tearfully told jurors Tuesday how she and her boyfriend were napping at a highway rest stop when they were jolted awake by two gunmen who killed her boyfriend and wounded her.

After waking to a metallic knocking on their rental car’s window, Margaret Jagger said, she and Gary Colley saw one man standing on either side of the vehicle.

“The black youth, he was pointing his gun straight at me. He was sort of mouthing something to me, shouting at me, but I couldn’t hear him,” she said, wiping away tears.

“I said to him, ‘I can’t hear you. I don’t know what you want. What do you want?’ ”

When Colley, 34, tried to back up the car and flee, the gunmen opened fire, killing him and wounding Jagger.

Jagger took the stand as testimony began in the trial of John (Billy Joe) Crumitie, 17, one of four youths charged in Colley’s death at the rest stop on Interstate 10. If convicted, Crumitie faces life in prison with no chance of parole for at least 25 years.

Two other teen-agers pleaded guilty to lesser charges and the fourth awaits trial.

The Sept. 14, 1993, shooting damaged Florida’s image and prompted the governor to post 24-hour guards at highway rest stops. Colley was the ninth foreign visitor killed in Florida within a year.

Jagger, 36, of West Yorkshire, England, said she and Colley were driving from New Orleans to St. Petersburg and stopped for a nap shortly after 1 a.m.

Jagger said she failed to identify Crumitie in police lineups but did identify a 15-year-old whose murder trial has not been scheduled yet.

Crumitie’s lawyer, Dwight Wells, said the state had no physical evidence linking his client to the crime.

One of the accused, 18-year-old Deron Spear, has also agreed to testify against Crumitie. Spear, the driver of the getaway car, awaits sentencing.