Fugitive Zachery Waldo found, faces life in prison
There was a new answer Wednesday to the question, “Where’s Zachery Waldo?”
He was in the Lake County Jail.
For the previous 49 days, law enforcement authorities were uncertain of Waldo’s whereabouts.
They alleged Waldo, 36, jumped bail March 14, failing to return to a Lake County courtroom after a lunch break during the second day of his DUI/manslaughter trial, cutting off an ankle monitor and fleeing.
He was accused of causing a crash that killed a 13-year-old girl and her parents.
The crash on Christmas Eve 2019 killed Christopher Smith, 44; Jessica Smith, 35; and their daughter Hailey Smith, 13. The Smiths’ son, Hunter, then 11, was critically injured in the wreck but survived.
The family was driving to Venetian Gardens to look at holiday lights.
Waldo, convicted and sentenced to life in prison in absentia, was captured in the parking lot of an unidentified Mount Dora hotel by Lake County deputies and members of the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force.
Walter Forgie, supervising Assistant State Attorney in Lake County, said officers acted on a tip. He did not have additional details.
“Hopefully this will give the family additional closure,” he said.
CRIMELINE offered a $10,000 reward for a tip leading to Waldo’s capture.
According to court filings and state prison records, Waldo had been to prison three times previously for stealing a car, fleeing police and trafficking cocaine. His prison stays totaled about six years.
About a month ago, authorities arrested and jailed his girlfriend, Melinesia Shauntel Jones, accusing her of helping him get away. Charges include providing false information to law enforcement officers during a felony investigation and acting as an accessory to Waldo’s failure to appear.
A judge sealed the affidavit justifying her arrest.
Waldo was driving a 2-1/2 ton pickup hurtling 96.3 mph on East Dixie Avenue seconds before it slammed into the Smiths’ Toyota Corolla as it was turning into Venetian Gardens to view holiday lights.
The speed limit on Dixie is 35 mph.
A police affidavit said officers searched the truck and inside found 157.8 grams of marijuana packaged as if for sale; six cellular phones; a pair of digital scales; and a 40-caliber Ruger handgun loaded with 12 rounds.
The gun had been reported as stolen in Mount Dora.
At Waldo’s sentencing last month, Laurie Smith, Christopher Smith’s sister, appealed to authorities.
“Please just find him. Put him in jail,” she wrote in her statement. “Nothing will bring back Chris, Jessica and Hailey. But knowing he is finally behind bars will bring some small amount of closure to this needless tragedy.”
