Miller County family mourns death of father after crash in Florida

MILLER COUNTY, Mo. — What was supposed to be a fun summer vacation for Thomas Lyon and his family turned into their worst nightmare.

On Friday, Lyon was walking with his step-daughter, niece, and nephew in Panama City beach when police say he was hit and killed by a drunk driver.

Thomas’s mother-in-law says in his last moments, he pushed the children out of the way and ultimately saved their lives.

Shawna Witt tells OzarksFirst the family was celebrating Thomas and Makenzie Lyon’s first wedding anniversary and the couple just found out they were pregnant.

“I will use my last bit of helping my daughter fight for justice for her husband and the father of her children. And now her unborn child will never meet his father, his or her father,” said Witt.

Witt remembers August 2nd as the darkest day in her family’s life.

“The main thing that I just want everybody to know is that he saved three children’s lives by shoving them out of the way and lost his own life,” said Witt.

According to the Florida State Highway Patrol, the family was crossing Front Beach Road just after 9 p.m. when a car driven by 39-year-old Casey Rattan was going above the speed limit,  hitting Thomas. Troopers believe that Rattan was under the influence of alcohol.

“We believe speed may be a limiting factor, but we want to confirm that with our investigative techniques before we just outright say speed is a factor. So those are many things we’re working on to definitely come to a full conclusion. Hopefully, we’ll know more in a few months when we close out this case for sure,” said Lt. Jason King with Florida State Highway Patrol.

Rattan was charged with DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide and was taken into custody. but Witt and her family are upset that Ratton has been released on bond.

The family tells me they plan to attend every court hearing they can in Florida. A GoFundMe for the family has raised more than $36,000.

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