Second pedestrian dies after State Road 60 accident

TAMPA -- A second man who was hit by a car while crossing State Road 60 Saturday night died early this morning at Tampa General Hospital, according the Florida Highway Patrol.

Another pedestrian who was struck by the same car died at the scene of the accident, which happened around 8:54 p.m. Saturday. The driver, 76-year-old Esther Smith-Thomas, and her 49-year-old passenger were heading east on State Road 60 near Falkenburg Road while the two men were crossing State Road 60 near the Hooters and McDonald's restaurants.

Smith-Thomas hit her brakes but struck both men with her Mercury car, according to the Highway Patrol report. The men flipped off the sides of the car and came to rest in the road. One of the men was pronounced dead immediately, while the other was transported to the hospital where he died shortly afterward. The men have not yet been identified by the Highway Patrol or Hillsborough County Sheriff's deputies.

Smith-Thomas and her passenger, Teresa Thomas-Lemmond, were not injured. Both are from Laurinburg, N.C., according the accident report.

-- Times staff writer