Possible deal for driver accused in deadly wrong-way crash

TAMPA (FOX 13) - A fiery crash on the Veteran’s Expressway, caused by a wrong-way driver, left two people dead.  But the suspected wrong-way driver survived, and two years later, he hopes to cut a deal and avoid a trial.

A witness told prosecutors that defendant Anwar Askar was going 100 and 120 miles an hour before he plowed into Jesus Lanzo's car, killing him and his passenger.

Askar suffered two broken legs and had his booking photo taken at the hospital.  

Lanzo's wife Glorimar Lanzo told the judge she wants the ultimate punishment for Askar. "I want for everything possible for him to pay for what he did.”

Nearly two years after that fiery crash on the Veterans Expressway, Askar is getting ready to go to trial, but Askar's attorney is hoping to cut a deal with that state and skip a trial. 

Prosecutor Aaron Hubbard was not too optimistic.  “I don't think there will be a meeting of the minds as far as what they are asking for and what I anticipate we are going to offer.”

But despite the odds, the judge agreed to push back the trial a few weeks and see if they can hammer out a deal.  Askar stood silent next to his attorney, but there is no doubt Glorimar Lanzo will have plenty to say on any possible plea deal – and what’s at stake.

"I can't even see my husband. At least they have the privilege of seeing him and being with him and I can't see my husband's body because of the damage this man caused," a tearful Glorimar Lanzo said back in 2016.

Askar is back in court in November to give the judge an update on their case.