POINCIANA — A driver, charged with being drunk, swerved off Allegheny Road, striking five middle school students who were walking home on the shoulder, killing one and injuring the other four, including one severely.

John Camfield, 48, of Davenport and a former law officer, faces a vehicular-homicide charge and several more felony traffic charges after his vehicle struck the five Dundee Ridge Middle Academy students shortly after they got off their school bus Thursday evening.

Jahiem Robertson, 13, of Poinciana died from his injuries about 9:30 a.m. Friday at the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando, where he was taken after the accident on Allegheny Road near Athabasca Drive in Poinciana.

“Jahiem was a fun and energetic student who made friends easily at school,” according to a statement from the Polk County School District, quoting an unidentified teacher. “He worked hard at his studies, maintained good grades and was a delight in the classroom. He was a member of the basketball team and gave 100 percent at practice as well as during games.”

Another victim, Juan Mena, 13, also was taken to Arnold Palmer. He is expected to recover from his serious injuries.

Three other students were treated for their injuries at the scene and released. They are Jasmine Robertson, 14, Jahiem's sister; Jonte Robinson, 15; and Rylan Pryce, 12, all of Poinciana.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said during a Friday news conference that he has seen a lot of traffic fatalities in his career, including about 80 in Polk last year, but this one struck particularly hard.

“Every one of them was tragic, but none of them rises to this level,” he said. “These kids weren’t in the road. They weren’t misbehaving. They weren’t cutting up. They were just being middle school kids.”

An off-duty deputy sheriff, Jonathan “J.J.” Quintana, arrested Camfield at the scene of a second accident nearby. His daughter had been on the bus with the children who were hit.

Quintana said he knew the children from his daily trips to the school bus stop with his daughter and that they were good kids.

In addition to vehicular homicide, Camfield faces felony charges including single counts of leaving the scene of a crash involving death, driving under the influence of alcohol with serious bodily injury, DUI manslaughter, reckless driving with serious bodily injury, leaving the scene of a crash with serious bodily injury, and driving under the influence with injury and property damage, according to a Polk County Sheriff’s Office report. He also faces a misdemeanor charge of DUI and four misdemeanor counts of DUI with injury and property damage.

Camfield had worked as a law officer for more than 18 years for 10 different law agencies in Mississippi, Judd said at the news conference. Camfield later worked as director of public safety at the former Cypress Gardens theme park in Winter Haven, following the end of his law-enforcement career.

Judd repeatedly expressed disdain for Camfield’s law background given the severity of the offenses. He noted Camfield had asked Sheriff’s Office investigators for respect given that background.

“No law-enforcement officer acts like that. He’s a total embarrassment,” Judd said. “Our goal is that he never, ever gets the chance to drive a car or walk around as a free man ever again.”

Judd said he spoke with some of Camfield’s former supervisors, who described him as a skilled detective but one who struggled with a drinking problem. That was the reason behind his frequent job changes.

“He liked to brag that he and Capt. Morgan (rum) had a special relationship,” the sheriff said.

According to information from Sheriff’s Office reports and the news conference, the incident unfolded about 5 p.m. when Camfield was driving his 2008 Kia Rio north on Allegheny toward Athabasca Drive.

A motorist behind the Kia told investigators she saw Camfield lean forward and then the car ran onto the east shoulder of the road, striking the students, who were walking home on Allegheny.

After the impact, the Kia slowed then rapidly accelerated down Allegheny. He got onto the Poinciana Parkway, where the Kia collided with a Nissan Murano driven by Olivia Oliver, of 226 Amesbury Lane in Poinciana.

Oliver was not injured, but the collision rendered the Kia undriveable.

Meanwhile Quintana, who lives nearby, received a call from his 11-year-old daughter to pick her up from the bus stop. Quintana was still in bed after working a midnight shift.

The accident happened during the call, Quintana said at the news conference.

He heard his daughter scream, then yell, “Dad, dad, help me. I need your help,” said Quintana, visibly shaken by the memory.

“I’ve been doing this job for almost four years, and I’ve seen a lot. I’ve been involved in a lot," he said. "Nothing compares with hearing your daughter ask for help, and you can’t help.”

Quintana said he bolted out the door in his bare feet and reached the scene a minute later. Other parents, including two nurses, arrived minutes later and began treating the injured children.

When one of the adults told the deputy that Camfield had crashed farther down the road, Quintana raced home, got in his patrol car and drove to the parkway site.

Camfield was still there and Quintana arrested him.

Judd praised his deputy’s actions.

“He did what a deputy should do and certainly did what every father should do,” Judd said.

The sheriff gave Quintana time off so his injured feet could heal.

Camfield refused a blood-alcohol test, so the Sheriff’s Office obtained a warrant for it, Judd said.

The results, taken seven hours after the accident, showed a blood-alcohol level of 0.147, or nearly twice the legal limit of 0.08.

Also at the news conference, Polk County Schools Superintendent Jacqueline Byrd said she and people from Dundee Ridge Middle School met the parents at the hospital Thursday night.

“I’m at a loss for words,” Byrd said. “It is truly tragic, but to have a driver not even care (to stop) when kids were injured, it hurts. It hurts me as a parent. It hurts me as a superintendent.”

Describing the pain of the parents, she said, “they could not come to grips with what happened. They’re very worried, but all they ask for is our prayers.”

— Kevin Bouffard can be reached at kevin.bouffard@theledger.com or at 863-401-6980.