Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Eric Javah Baker, 22, of Lake City, also known as Raw Youngin during his rap career, has been sentenced to 15 years in state prison, followed by 10 years of probation, after pleading to four felonies stemming from an incident in which he fled from a traffic stop and hit another vehicle, killing the driver.

At about 6:41 p.m. on July 26, 2024, Gainesville Police Department officers conducted a traffic stop on an Infinite Q50S in the 1000 block of NE 2nd Street for stop bar and window tint violations. The Infiniti stopped on NE 10th Avenue, just west of the intersection with NE 2nd Street.

As officers approached the Infiniti on foot, it drove away at high speed on NE 10th Avenue; the officers went back to their patrol vehicle and turned off their emergency lights.

A short time later, the Infiniti hit another car at the intersection of NW 10th Avenue and NW 6th Street; the driver of the other car was fatally injured in the crash, and the other three occupants of the Infiniti were seriously injured.

After the Infiniti came to a stop in the front yard of a property in the 600 block of NW 10th Avenue, the driver, later identified as Baker, ran from the scene without offering aid to any of the occupants of either vehicle. In spite of suffering from what appeared to be a broken ankle, Baker ran from the scene of the crash and tried to hide in the yard of a nearby property. A K-9 team located and apprehended him, and he was taken to a hospital for treatment of his ankle.

Baker was eventually formally charged with fleeing from law enforcement, vehicular homicide with a failure to render aid, reckless driving causing serious bodily injury, leaving the scene of an accident involving death, leaving the scene of an accident involving serious bodily injury, and reckless driving with damage to a person or property. Judge Kristine Van Vorst set bail at $700,000, and Baker has been in the Alachua County Jail since his release from the hospital after the crash.

Baker entered a plea of nolo contendere to the charges, and the last two charges were dropped as part of the plea agreement. In the plea agreement, prosecutors asked for 25 years in prison, and Baker’s attorney asked for 10 years in prison, followed by 10 years of probation. Charges in another case with two charges of driving without a license, causing death or serious bodily injury, were also dropped as part of the deal.

On August 26, Judge David Kreider sentenced Baker to 15 years in prison with credit for 396 days served, followed by 10 years of probation, for the charge of leaving the scene of an accident involving death. Baker was also given a concurrent sentence of 15 years for fleeing from law enforcement and two concurrent five-year sentences on the other two charges; Judge Kreider ordered that a four-year minimum sentence be served for leaving the scene of an accident involving death.