Man gets more than 24 years in prison for hitting, killing 7-year-old in Palmetto
BRADENTON, Fla. - Clutching onto photographs, the parents of James Linzi faced the man who hit and killed their 7-year-old son in a Manatee County courtroom.
Aaron Naylor pleaded no contest to multiple charges related to the child's death, but the judge handed down the maximum sentence for the defendant.
His sobs could be heard throughout the courtroom as surveillance video played, showing the moments Naylor hit the 7-year-old and his father in March 2022.
Pictured: Aaron Naylor in a Manatee County courtroom during his sentencing after pleading no contest.
"I cradled him in my arms on the side of that road after picking him up in the middle of the road while this man is screaming about himself," said Alex Linzi, James' father.
The father and son were inseparable. The pair were jogging on the sidewalk heading back to their Jiu Jitsu studio when Naylor, who was driving a commercial van, jumped a curve and hit them.
The Palmetto Police Department said Naylor was speeding and had extremely high levels of meth in his system. When officers tried to arrest him, he ran several times.
"There’s a million ways that it could have happened that I could actually have honest to God remorse and feel that those tears are real, but you saw it. He ran," said Alex Linzi.
Pictured: Alex Linzi, the father of 7-year-old James Linzi, speaking during Naylor's sentencing.
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Naylor plead no contest to multiple charges, including DUI manslaughter, possession of drugs and resisting arrest. Naylor’s mother, Cheryl Rockel, told the court her son suffered from years of mental and physical abuse.
"As a victim of domestic violence, abuse and trauma that my children and I had to live through. I would never want to cause the same pain if not worse, on anyone else," said Rockel.
Naylor begged for forgiveness.
Pictured: James Linzi, the 7-year-old hit and killed in March 2022.
"If I could change and take my life for his, if that was an option, I would do that. I honestly would. I would do that. That’s not just words to appease. That’s from the deepest parts of my heart," Naylor told the court.
Assistant State Attorney Garrett Franzen reminded the court, this was no accident.
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"This is an intentional act. He consumed that and got behind the wheel of the car and ran over that kid," said Franzen.
Judge Frederick Mercurio agreed.
Book photo when Naylor was first arrested after hitting and killing 7-year-old James Linzi.
"You’ve been through this before. You had multiple opportunities to get help. You chose not to do that," he said.
Judge Mercurio sentenced Naylor to the maximum 24 and a half years in prison – small portion of a lifetime, James Linzi will never have.
"You snuffed out the life of a 7-year-old. Depriving the world of that young man," said Judge Mercurio.
Naylor’s sentence will be followed by a mandatory period of probation for six months to participate in a DUI drug treatment program. His driving privileges were also permanently revoked.