Man charged with murder in motorcycle crash on St. Pete Central Avenue, goes to prison

One morning in late September two years ago, Joshua Piazza climbed onto his blue sport motorcycle and rode from his home in Largo toward downtown St. Petersburg.

He was driving eastbound near the 5100 block of Central Avenue when occupants of a Lincoln Mercury sedan began chasing and taunting him.

Traffic camera footage showed the car swerving between lanes, forcing Piazza to swerve while a passenger hung out the window and gestured wildly at the motorcyclist. At least three eyewitnesses saw the next accident.

The driver of the sedan made a final sharp left turn, sending Piazza into oncoming traffic. His motorcycle slammed head-on into a truck with such force that the pickup's front bumper broke in half, witnesses said.

“It was like it was a calculated move,” one witness said in a testimony. “He pushed the motorcycle against the front of the truck.”

The driver of the limousine, Narciso Rosario, was arrested for attempted murder.

Piazza, who had fallen into a coma at Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital, died less than a week later. Rosario's charge was upgraded to second-degree murder, but he maintained his innocence for the next two years.

Last week, Rosario changed his plea to guilty. The deal calls for a prison sentence of 25 years, a number that was non-negotiable for the 21-year-old victim's family.

“He needs to be behind bars for the time Josh was on this earth,” said Piazza's mother, Shannon L. Turner.

“We had good chances.”

Pinellas Assistant District Attorney Robert Bruce said it's difficult to prove intent in road rage cases. But in Rosario's case, “the evidence was overwhelming,” he said.

“And the overwhelming majority of witness statements said it was an intentional act,” Bruce said.

Rosario also fled the scene of the accident – another circumstance that, according to Bruce, led to the case ending in a guilty plea.

About a year after the hearings began, Bruce took over the prosecution. He also took over a second case related to Piazzo's death: Rosario's sister, the passenger, who leaned out the car window and yelled at the motorcyclist.

Solimar Rosario, 33, also helped her brother hide the sedan after the crash, investigators said. She was charged with accessory after the fact. Her trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 4, but Bruce expects she will not see any prison time. Piazza's family is fine with that.

Would you like to receive breaking news in your inbox?

Subscribe to our free News Alerts newsletter

Get real-time updates on important issues and events in Tampa Bay and beyond as they happen.

You are logged in!

Would you like to receive more of our free weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let's get started.

Discover all your possibilities

“The family members have recognized that she has serious mental health issues,” Bruce said. “That's why they agree with us and allow her to go to mental health court.”

Her brother will have to serve around 23 years of the sentence, including time in custody. Jonathan Hackworth, Rosario's lawyer, condemned the road rage and called the incident a tragedy for both parties. He said his client's “life is practically over.”

“Two families were destroyed,” Hackworth added.

Bruce said Rosario's The sentence is at the low end of sentencing guidelines for second-degree murder. One reason for the deal was the possibility that a jury could find Rosario guilty of involuntary manslaughter, a lesser crime that carries a maximum sentence of 15 years.

“We thought we had a good chance, but you never know,” Bruce said.

The family's desire for swift justice was another reason prosecutors offered a plea deal to Rosario, now 34. Bruce said Turner, Piazza's mother, has been present at every scheduled hearing in the case.

“They were obviously very interested in the outcome, but they also wanted to see the whole process through,” Bruce said.

When it came time for victims to testify at the Rosario verdict, Turner spoke about forgiveness.

“You expect family members to say, 'I hate you, I hate you, I hate you.' But she didn't do that,” Bruce said.

Faith and forgiveness

“We could have been so full of hate and anger,” Turner said. “None of that will bring Joshua back.”

She said only one thing that frustrated her: She had to sit at the front of the courtroom at hearing after hearing and remain silent.

“The criminals have so much leeway,” said Turner. “But the victim and his relatives cannot say anything until the end. And that was hard.”

On the morning of the accident, Piazza celebrated his grandmother's birthday by treating his family to breakfast. At around 11 a.m., he told Turner he was going for a bike ride.

A few hours later, her phone rang with an accident alert. Turner frantically called her son over and over. Then she called the hospital. An operator asked her how quickly she could get there.

Piazza had bought his motorcycle just two months before the accident. He wore a helmet and allowed his mother to track his whereabouts via a phone app.

“It's so sad because he was on Howard Frankland, I-275 – all the dangerous bridges – and he was fine,” Turner said. “But he goes to St. Pete and this happens.”

Turner said Piazza was a curious child who suffered from anxiety throughout his life. His interest in technology and machines was evident from a young age: he once took the family toaster apart to see if he could put it back together.

Piazza, who had worked in a furniture warehouse before his death, was scheduled to be promoted to the maintenance department the following Monday, just two days after the crash.

Turner and her husband founded the Joshua Piazza Foundation this year in memory of their son. It provides “a monthly support group for crime victims and their families seeking justice in the courts,” Turner said.

“We’ve been hosting it for a few months, but no one has come,” she said.

Turner asks anyone interested in joining the group to email [email protected].