Volusia teen killed on moped was on way home from new job

Patricio G. Balona patricio.balona@news-jrnl.com
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Nicholas Eason

When her son handed Tina Tsitso-Eason his first-ever paycheck before returning to work, she said she never thought it would be the last time she would see him alive.

Nicholas Eason, 18, was excited about his earnings Saturday, after working 10 days at the Perfect Spot, a DeLand Municipal Airport restaurant. He gave the money to hold, saying he didn't want to spend it.

Troopers said the teen was killed by a drunken driver in a hit-and-run about 1:30 a.m. Sunday on International Speedway Boulevard, east of DeLand. 

He was about to enroll at DeLand High School because Eason had only been back in the area for two weeks after moving in with his mom from Springfield, Missouri. He had come to be with his mother so he could help as after she undergoes a pancreatic transplant, Tsitso-Eason said.

"He asked for $40 and said I love you and then he left for work," a tearful Tsitso-Eason said. "He had only been working 10 days."

Early Sunday, the teen texted his mother saying he was coming home. After a while, when her son did not arrive, the mother said she kept messaging him but got no response.

Tsitso-Eason said that she later learned that Florida Highway Patrol traffic homicide investigators at the crash scene received her text messages.

"The police were getting my text messages but because his phone was locked they couldn't respond to tell me to come to my son," Tsitso-Eason said.

At 8:30 a.m., troopers showed up at her home near DeLand to tell her that her son died when a suspected drunken driver crashed into Eason's moped.

Eason was driving his moped west on ISB near Marsh Road when he was rear-ended by Craig Howitt, 39, of Port Orange, troopers said.

The teen was thrown onto the hood of Howitt's Nissan Xterra and was eventually thrown off of it as Howitt continued driving. Howitt then hit a sign, stopped momentarily and then continued driving, FHP investigators said. 

A DeLand police officer pulled Howitt over about 2 miles from the crash. The DeLand officer said he saw Howitt's vehicle with the hood up and the driver's side headlight out. Heavy smoke was coming out of the engine compartment.

When the officer pulled over Howitt, he could see that the windshield was shattered, a report states.

When police made contact with Howitt, he walked to the side of the road and said, "Just shoot me," then sat down and repeated it several times, the DeLand police officer wrote.

Records show that Howitt was arrested in 2013 for driving under the influence.

In Sunday's hit-and-run crash, Howitt was charged with DUI causing death/failing to stop to render aid, leaving the scene of an accident with death and DUI with damage to a person or property. He was being held Monday without bail.

Friends and family said they will miss Eason, described by his uncle as a fantastic BMX bicycle rider. He grew up in DeLand riding dirt bikes and playing little league baseball. He played baseball at DeLand High before going to live with his father in Missouri, his mother said.

"He was amazing on a BMX bicycle, in the skate park or anywhere," said Mike Tsitso, who said he was looking for sponsors in Texas to get his nephew into professional bicycling sports.

The high-spirited teen had recently discovered a new thrilling sport — skydiving — and was looking forward to making a living someday jumping out of airplanes. His brother-in-law is a master sky-diver and, after just his first jump, Eason believed he had found his dream profession, his mother said.

"It's a terrible loss," the mother said.

On March 30, Eason went sky-diving:

Eason also was a popular BMX rider from West Volusia. Below is a YouTube video of him:

Below is a map of Marsh Road at U.S. 92 in DeLand:

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