GREG HERRON LIVENOW FOR FREE

When the cameraman asked who was the most scared to jump, they laughed and pointed to Cheryl, who admitted she probably was. In a company video posted on YouTube, the family told the cameraman they were celebrating Cameron's birthday. Last November, all four family members headed to SkyDive City in Zephryhills. The couple bought a pair of water scooters, and Cameron and Tristan joined a local club called the Tampa JetSki Crew.

The Herrins had enough money to make the most of Florida living. 'This kid will never be the same, and it's so sad,'' Bond said. James giggled in the backseat as Cameron bought cupcakes and flowers from Publix, then drove 25 miles to his would-be date's house to pop the question. Cameron was well-liked, she said, but preferred to spend time with a tight circle of friends he met in Stewart Middle Magnet School's NASA Explorer Academy.ДЄs prom approached, Cameron sought Bond's help. The Herrins kept close tabs on their boys, Bond said. 'The whole family is always right there when you need them,' she said. She said they were the only boys in the neighborhood to insist on helping.

GREG HERRON LIVENOW FOR FREE

'He worked for free just so he could get experience,' he said.Д¬arey Bond has lived across from the Herrins for about 12 years, and her son James Pardee has been best friends with Cameron since the second grade.ДЄ single mother, Bond counted on Cameron and Tristan when landscaping or replacing sod. More recently, Tristan volunteered to do demolition work for a man who remodeled and flipped houses, Bailey said. Cameron was more bookish and spent more time inside.

Bailey described Tristan as an outdoorsy type and a 'tinkerer' who actually enjoyed mowing the lawn and trimming weeds. Cheryl Herrin worried the changes might cause conflicts of interest with her employer, according to a resignation letter.ДЄs children, Tristan and Cameron often came to Bailey's house to play with his daughter. Charlie Crist signed into law sweeping changes to Citizens.

Herrin stepped down from the board in 2007, after then-Gov. President Ken Pruitt appointed Cheryl Herrin to the Board of Governors for Citizens Property Insurance, the state-run insurer of last resort for Florida residents. The same year the Herrins bought the house, then-state Sen. They paid $1.4 million for the property, records show.Д«uilt just a couple of years earlier, the house offered plenty of space for the family, with five bedrooms and five-and-a-half bathrooms in nearly 6,000 square feet, records show. That year, when the real estate bubble was at its peak, the Herrins purchased a Mediterranean-style home on West Gardner Court in South Tampa's Ballast Point neighborhood. In 2005, she transferred to Florida to take over as vice-president of State Farm's Florida zone. A health and fitness advocate, she was visiting Florida with her daughter Lillia so David could obtain his certification as a single-engine airplane pilot.Д«y the time Cheryl Herrin, 58, became vice president of the company's Mid-Atlantic zone, she had given birth to both sons - Tristan in 1997 and Cameron in 1999. Jessica Raubenolt married two years ago after meeting her husband-to-be, David, while studying nutrition at Kent State University. The crash ended the life of a toddler and her mother, a woman family and friends described as a devoted mother, wife and niece. The families, friends say, are now burdened by guilt. Those who would speak to reporters chose their words carefully, describing the parents, Chris and Cheryl Herrin, as devastated.ДЄll said the Herrins are loving, attentive parents of good kids who made a fatal mistake.

The crash has been the talk of the tight-knit Tampa Catholic community but more than 60 people in the families' close orbit declined to speak to the Times. 'Clearly, the parents of these three young men have not been successful in raising them to think of the consequences of their actions,' wrote another. 'Hopefully these idiot kids get the maximum sentence and go to prison for a long time,' a commenter wrote on a Tampa Bay Times story. But condemnation from the court of public opinion came swiftly. None of them have a criminal record or even a driving infraction. In an instant, the trio from well-to-do families shot from obscurity to local notoriety. Police say they were racing a Nissan Altima driven by John Barrineau, a 17-year-old classmate and friend of Cameron's. Tristan Herrin, Cameron's 20-year-old brother, was riding in the passenger seat of the Mustang.

Greg herron livenow