Warren calls sentencing in deadly Bayshore crash ‘excessively harsh’ in voicemail

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Suspended State Attorney Andrew Warren is responding to a newly released voicemail in which he called the sentencing in a deadly Bayshore street racing crash “excessively harsh. ” Cameron Herrin was sentenced to 24 years in prison for killing a mother and her baby during a street racing crash on Bayshore Boulevard in 2018.

On Tuesday, it was revealed what former Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren thought about the sentence for Herrin. A newly released voicemail from Warren, in 2021, the day after the sentence was handed down, reveals Warren thought the sentence was too harsh. “I’ll tell you, I was surprised and even disappointed by the sentence,” Warren said in part of the voicemail.

this week Herrin’s lawyer, John Fitzgibbons, shared the voicemail from the then state attorney, which was left last April. “I thought it was excessively harsh,” Warren said in the voicemail. Herrin’s attorney filed a motion Tuesday to reduce his sentence from 24 years to 10 years.

Court documents show Warren later told the attorney the sentence was “crazy,” and the 24-year prison term was “egregiously high”. It goes on to say Warren thought a 10 to 12 year sentence would have been appropriate and specifically stated a 10-year sentence would be “ok”. On Wednesday, Warren defended his position on the sentence.

“It’s no secret that I was surprised by the judge’s sentence because he went above the statutory guidelines, but, at the end of the day, my job as state attorney was to hold the defendants accountable, and to fight for the victim’s family, and to deliver the justice that Jessica and Lillia deserved, and that’s exactly what we did,” Warren said. John Reisinger is Jessica Reisinger-Raubenolt’s uncle. He says he’s not surprised by the motion filed by the attorney.

“They’re desperate to do something for his client and the parents for their sons,” Reisinger said. “Given the political (inaudible) regarding Andrew and the governor and the recent suspension or released from this position, this was a choice that the attorney made to take advantage of that. ” While he says he has the utmost respect for Warren and how the case was tried, he says Warren never expressed that the judge was too harsh.

“I truly don’t believe Andrew Warren believes that,” Reisinger said. Herrin was accused of driving more than 100 mph down Bayshore Boulevard when he hit Reisinger-Raubenolt and her daughter, Lillia in May 2018. Reisinger says not a day goes by where he doesn’t think about them both.

“Her light lives on as does Lillia,” Reisinger said. Attorney Fitzgibbons, who filed the motion, said including the voicemail was not in any way political. Fitzgibbons said there was a deadline that he had to file the motion by Saturday.

He believes what the state attorney has to say about a case is relevant and extremely important. Attorney Josh Sheridan is not affiliated with the case but agreed to comment on it. He believes the voicemail, and opinion of Warren will not have an impact on the motion.

“I think it shows kind of Mr. Warren‘s take on the subject, but I don’t think it’s anything that in and of itself is going to be a reason for the appellate court to overturn this or send it back down. I think it’s unfortunate that a voicemail is coming out now and being used against him in the middle of what’s going on, but I don’t think it’s going to work out to change what judge Nash did,” said Sheridan.

“I think the voicemail represents his personal opinion on what transpired, but just because he has a personal opinion on it, doesn’t reflect on how the case was handled and ultimately what happened. “.