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‘It’ll be a matter of time before he’s back behind the wheel:’ Man out on bail after deadly crash

ORANGE PARK, Fla. — Holidays can be hard for grieving families, but this Thanksgiving was much more difficult for the Conroy family.

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“I should have never spent a Thanksgiving having a panic attack, because I walked into a store face to face with the man who took my son’s life,” Donna Conroy said. “It’s infuriating.”

Donna Conroy went to the store on Thursday with her sister but ended up seeing the man charged for the crash that killed her son.

Related Story: Clay County man dies from injuries in fiery crash; man accused now charged with vehicular homicide

In April, Conroy’s son, Gavin Conroy, was driving to work in Orange Park when he was hit while sitting at a red light. A Florida Highway Patrol crash report reveals Clifford Ringer didn’t stop at that light and rear-ended Gavin, who then collided with two other cars. The 23-year-old’s fuel tank ruptured and engulfed his car, burning more than 90% of his body.

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Ringer was driving on a suspended license at the time of the crash.

“I think it’ll be a matter of time before he’s back behind the wheel of a vehicle like he’s done time and time again, because he doesn’t care that his license has been suspended,” Conroy said.

Ringer was originally denied bond. In early August, a judge granted a $260,000 bond. Ringer’s attorney worked to get it reduced, but Ringer ended up posting the payment this past Monday.

Conroy said her family was not notified.

Read: Woman listed as ‘abductor’ in AMBER Alert for Jacksonville girl charged with false imprisonment

“One of my concerns was him getting out of jail and us not being notified,” Conroy said. “I was reassured by the prosecutor’s office that we would be notified as soon as paperwork was filed to release him, and we got no notification whatsoever.”

Action News Jax’s Meghan Moriarty reached out to the State Attorney’s Office, asking why no one notified the family. Conroy said she enacted every notification to ensure she would get a notification.

Action News Jax is waiting to hear back from the State Attorney’s Office.

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If you’d like to help the family during this difficult time you can visit their GoFundMe by clicking here.

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