(Court TV) — Sarah Phillips and Shamir Suber were complete strangers, but in the early morning hours of Dec. 13, 2001, their worlds collided. The contact was brief — just a few seconds — but when it was over, 20-year-old Phillips was dead.

Suber, fleeing from police at a speed of more than 70 miles per hour, plowed into the back of Phillips' green Ford Escort as she stopped at a police roadblock. Phillips' spine and skull were crushed on impact and she died almost instantly.

Investigators and accident-scene analysts said Suber had to have seen Phillips' car from more than 600 feet away and had at least seven seconds to react, but made no effort to stop or avoid her car.

Suber, however, said it was an accident. He had been drinking and was afraid when he fled from police. His lawyer admitted his client's reckless driving was the cause of Phillips' death, but argued his client didn't intend to kill her and said he should be found guilty of the lesser charges of vehicular manslaughter and DUI manslaughter.

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Suber was tried before an Orange County jury for second-degree murder and five lesser charges. If convicted of the top count, the 26-year-old defendant faced life in prison.

The Crash

Police set up roadblocks in the neighborhood after they got a call of a reported shooting in the early morning hours of Dec. 13, 2001. The incident, though unclear to police at the time, did involve Shamir Suber. He had been at a friend's apartment and got into a fight with an acquaintance over some DVDs. He left after the altercation — but not before throwing a concrete slab through a window.

Residents thought they had been shot at and called police. Police officers responded to the call by setting up stops to search for the suspect.

According to testimony, two checkpoints were set up about one mile apart

Phillips, a nursing student, was driving home from a night out with her girlfriends. As she approached the intersection of Lokanotosa Trail and Rouse Road, a quiet neighborhood in Orlando, Fla., she stopped at one of the checkpoints.

Around the same time, Suber evaded the first checkpoint set up by police about a mile away, and police gave chase. Suber had been drinking, was in possession of crack cocaine, and did not have a driver's license. According to investigators, Suber was driving an estimated 70 mph.

The officer at the scene said he never even had a chance to wave Phillips over to the side of the road when Suber's car rear-ended hers, sending her green Ford Escort careening across the intersection and into a utility pole before coming to a stop.

Suber's car struck some nearby trees and a road sign before it came to a stop. Suber and his passenger, Derrick Hill, suffered only minor injuries. In fact, officers testified they had to tell Suber to "get down" several times before he complied, suggesting that he was still trying to evade police even after the crash.