Woman charged with vehicular homicide and DUI with injury after hitting utility pole head-on

Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Ronesha Nichole Butler, 31, was arrested yesterday and charged with vehicular homicide, DUI manslaughter, DUI with injury, and driving with a suspended license in connection with an August 30 head-on crash that killed one of her passengers and injured the other one.

At about 6 p.m. on August 30, Butler was allegedly driving a 2020 Toyota Camry southbound on NE Waldo Road, approaching NW 53rd Avenue, when the car hit a utility pole head-on at a high rate of speed. Charles Brautcheck, who was sitting in the rear driver’s side seat, was transported to the hospital under a trauma alert and later died from his injuries. The front seat passenger, who sustained a broken collar bone, reportedly said Butler had been drinking; that passenger said he had argued with Butler and she became angry said she would “kill them.” Moments later, according to the passenger, the car hit the utility pole.

A responding Gainesville Police Department officer reported finding a “Four Loko” alcoholic beverage inside the car, and the vehicle reportedly had a strong odor of alcohol.

At the hospital, Butler was reportedly “screaming and incoherent”; a blood draw reportedly showed a blood alcohol content of 0.188 g/100mL, which is equivalent to a breath concentration of .172 g/210L, over twice the legal limit.

Another witness reportedly said the vehicle had been driving recklessly before the crash and that he had seen the driver losing control and leaving the roadway. He said the vehicle slowed, and then the driver regained control and passed him at a high rate of speed.

Butler’s license was suspended in November 2023, and her license was canceled on July 16, 2024.

Butler, whose address is listed as GRACE Marketplace, has a juvenile criminal history between 2009 and 2013 and two adult misdemeanor convictions (one violent). Judge Susan Miller-Jones ordered her held without bail pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s Office to hold her without bail until trial.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.