🚗 A Niceville man died from injuries after being rear-ended at Highway 20 and Bay Drive on July 3.
⚖️ The at-fault driver was cited for careless driving, paid a fine, and had his case closed before FHP moved to reopen it.
📂 The victim’s family says FHP failed to preserve evidence and communicate, leaving them to pursue answers on their own.
NICEVILLE — The family of a man killed in a July 3 crash at Highway 20 and Bay Drive says they are still seeking answers, alleging that the Florida Highway Patrol failed to follow proper procedures that could have led to more serious charges against the driver, and destroyed key evidence in the process.
Steven Edward Butler, 73, of Niceville, died July 15 from injuries sustained when his vehicle was rear-ended at a red light and pushed into the intersection, according to a Florida Highway Patrol report.
A witness told Butler’s son-in-law, Jason Harwell, in a text exchange that he saw the entire crash and believed the at-fault driver, Michael Alan Kushma, was traveling about 45–50 mph in a 45 mph zone and “wasn’t paying attention to the traffic in front of him.”
“He shouldn’t have been going that fast when it was a red light and traffic was stopped,” the witness wrote.
FHP investigators say Kushma’s 2016 Toyota Highlander struck Butler’s 2019 Kia Sportage, propelling it into a Toyota Tundra. The impact caused Butler’s vehicle to collide bumper-to-bumper with the truck in the westbound lanes.
According to the sheriff’s office reports, Sgt. Jarret Bristol witnessed the crash and saw Kushma continue eastbound at low speed, swerving onto sidewalks multiple times.
Believing Kushma might be impaired or suffering a medical emergency, Bristol used his marked patrol vehicle to force Kushma to a stop about a quarter-mile from the intersection.
In statements to deputies, Kushma admitted he was distracted and didn’t realize traffic had stopped. He said after the crash, his brakes “were not working” and that deployed airbags and smoke obstructed his vision.
Harwell says investigators never seized Kushma’s vehicle to verify his claim about the brake system failing after the impact.
“That vehicle is no longer available,” Harwell told Mid Bay News. “The insurance company has already seized it and taken it away, and it is not locatable. That evidence is gone because of their negligence.”
He also questioned discrepancies between the sheriff’s office reports and the crash timeline, saying he was told by a homicide investigator that OCSO asked FHP to include Bristol’s patrol vehicle in the crash report.
According to Harwell, the trooper refused, saying the stop was separate from the initial crash and the sheriff’s office needed to write its report.
Kushma was cited for careless driving under Florida Statute 316.1925(1). The citation form indicated the crash caused serious bodily injury, which under state law requires a mandatory court hearing.
Harwell said he immediately notified FHP Trooper Waldemar “Waldo” Mesa Nunez of Butler’s death on July 15, expecting charges to be upgraded to reflect a fatality.
He said he sent several follow-up messages but received no reply until two days after Kushma’s Aug. 4 court date and Butler’s memorial service.
“Nobody was able to be present at the court date of the guy who killed my dad because of the investigation stalling due to your deployment and a new individual not being assigned,” Harwell wrote to Mesa Nunez. “You’re negligent and the department’s negligent.”
Court records show Kushma resolved the citation on Aug. 4 by paying a $163 fine without a hearing.
On Aug. 7, the Florida Highway Patrol’s legal counsel filed a motion to set aside the disposition, arguing the citation’s “serious bodily injury” designation made a hearing mandatory.
The filing states the State was in the process of amending the citation to reflect a fatality when it learned the case had already been closed.
“A citation of this nature… should be heard on its merits and should not have been disposed of without a hearing,” the motion states.
Harwell said Kushma’s conduct went beyond careless driving.
“Everybody was completely stopped at the intersection,” Harwell said. “That means this guy was going so fast and looking away from the road ahead for the light to cycle through yellow and then red, and not have enough time to stop. That’s not just looking back briefly — that’s flying down the road, causing a wreck that ultimately ended in the loss of life. That is involuntary vehicular manslaughter by culpable negligence.”
Harwell said his independent investigation has already turned up more information than what the agencies involved have shared.
“I have more information at my fingertips at this point than they do, and that’s sad,” he said.
The motion to reopen the case remains pending in Okaloosa County Court. Meanwhile, Butler’s family says they will continue pressing for answers.
“We’ve been left to put the pieces together ourselves,” Harwell said. “This will not go unaddressed.”
Mid Bay News reached out to FHP via email and has received no comment.
Pro Communi Bono
St. Francis De Sales, Ora Pro Nobis!
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