A fighting couple’s car killed a Gulfport pedestrian. Here are the charges they face

Anita Lee
·1 min read
2

Gulfport residents Bryan Flores-Ortiz, 24, and Wandaliz Rosario, 26, have been arrested and charged with one count each of manslaughter in the traffic death of D’Ante Terrel Burks.

Police say Flores-Ortiz and Rosario were having a physical fight while Ortiz drove along U.S. 90, causing Flores-Ortiz to lose control of the car, striking 25-year-old Burks on the roadside.

Flores-Ortiz was driving a car that police found overturned on the beach Monday afternoon at U.S. 90 and Pratt Avenue.

When it left the highway, the car struck and killed Burks, who police say was sitting on a bench overlooking the beach.

Burks was taken by ambulance to Memorial Hospital at Gulfport, where he was pronounced dead.

Police took Flores-Ortiz and Rosario to the Harrison County jail, where they were being held on a bond of $200,000 each. Stone County law enforcement has a hold on Flores-Ortiz on a charge of possession of a controlled substance, the jail docket shows.

Anyone with any information about the incident is urged to contact the Gulfport Police Department at 228-868-5959 or Mississippi Coast Crime Stoppers at 877-787-5898.

Staff Writer Margaret Baker contributed to this report.