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Suspect in hit-and-run that killed young couple had 5 DUI arrests, records show

MUGSHOTS: Shawn Lee Blitchington, accused of fleeing crash that killed young couple

Court records show the man accused of fleeing a crash that killed a pregnant woman and her boyfriend has five previous arrests for driving under the influence.

According to Florida Highway Patrol, Shawn Blitchington’s driver’s license was permanently revoked when he got into a wrong-way crash on Saturday just after 11 p.m.

Troopers said he was driving a white Ford F-250 southbound in a northbound travel lane of U.S. 301 with no headlights on when he hit a 2017 Honda Civic head-on.

Bailey McKnight, 22, and her boyfriend, Ryan Kennedy, 22, were in the Civic. They were killed in the crash, troopers said.

According to FHP, Blitchington fled the scene of the crash. He was arrested near the crash site at 5:20 a.m.

Family said McKnight was eight-months pregnant with the couple’s first child. She also had a young son.

“She was a phenomenal mother,” McKnight’s cousin Brooke Price said. “One day when I become a mother, I hope I’m half the mother she was.”

Price said her cousin was expecting a boy, and she and Kennedy couldn’t have been happier.

The young couple’s families want to know why Blitchington was behind the wheel of a car despite his revoked license.

Action News Jax Law and Safety Expert Dale Carson said there are times individuals with permanently revoked licenses can drive.

Troopers tells Action News Jax that Blitchington did not fit into those exceptions.

“The only way to keep them off the road is to keep them in custody,” Carson said.

Court records in Duval, Nassau and Suwanee counties reveal Blitchington has been arrested for DUI five times.

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His first DUI arrest was in Duval County in 2002. He was arrested again for DUI in 2003, 2004, 2008 and 2011, according to court records.

Blitchington has also been arrested on battery and driving with a suspended license charges, records show.

FHP said the truck Blitchington was driving Saturday was registered to a company called Pure Air Inc.

A Florida Division of Corporations search showed Blitchington was the registered agent for the company in 2002.

The company is no longer active.

Toxicology reports for Bitchington are pending, troopers said.