Dhimitri Andoni, then 18, and his cousin Kristiana Nasto, then 18, attended the same high school together in Albania and then both moved to the United States for college. “He kept trying to convince me to switch my campus from USF Tampa to USFSP,” Nasto said. “He would say that the view from his campus was just priceless.” Courtesy of the Andoni family
By Anna Bryson and Whitney Elfstrom
When Dhimitri Andoni saw a distressed motorist in the median along Interstate 275 on Sept. 20, he pulled over to help.
That’s the kind of “humble, everyday hero” he was, said his cousin, Kristiana Nasto. “Humanity and selflessness were just a big part of him.”
That selflessness cost him his life.
As Andoni, 22, a finance major at USF St. Petersburg, walked back to his car after checking on the other motorist, a passing pickup truck struck and killed him, the Florida Highway Patrol says.
Then, in a cruel twist that made national news, the driver of the pickup stole Andoni’s car and drove away, leaving Andoni’s lifeless body alongside the highway, the Highway Patrol says.
Fifteen hours passed before authorities discovered his body.
Last week, as Andoni’s family – immigrants from Albania – struggled to cope with their loss, they remembered their son, brother and cousin as a happy, energetic young man who embraced life as a USF St. Petersburg student and dreamed of a career as an accountant.
“When you wake up in the morning you don’t remember,” said his brother Ilia Andoni, 28. “You expect him to come in and crack jokes because he always wanted people to be happy.”
When his family immigrated here three years ago, the main reason was Dhimitri. He wanted to be an accountant like his mother, Violeta, and move to New York.
His English was so good that Andoni translated for the family as they navigated the immigration process. One official said that there was no need for further schooling because he could become a translator, Ilia Andoni recalled.
But Andoni dreamed of a bigger life than that, recalled his brother.
The family came from the small town of Zicisht, Albania, where Dhimitri was a happy and energetic boy with blond hair and gorgeous blue eyes. He ran around the house and played with cats, dogs and frogs. His family said that Dhimitri always went out of his way to help people.
He loved to play soccer and chess with his father, Petrika Andoni, as well as computer games. He finished elementary school and middle school in Bilisht, Albania, and attended a private high school, Preca College, in Korce, Albania.
“I was so excited when both of us were accepted in the same high school because that meant that we would spend all our high school years together,” said Nasto, 22. “All our professors highly respected him, and his many academic achievements made his parents very proud. I cherish all our high school memories together, like all the times he saved me from horrible dates or all the times he booed after I tried to sing in after-parties. Yes, I sing horribly.”
Silvio Bedulla was one of Dhimitri’s high school friends.
“Sometimes in life you find a special friend and Dhimitri was one for us,” said Bedulla in a Facebook message to a Crow’s Nest reporter. “He was that person who makes you laugh and brings joy in your life. He used to take everything in his life with optimism. He knew how to live in the present and enjoy every moment of it. He used to make a lot of jokes. He was a hell of a videogamer too.”
After graduating from high school in 2014, Dhimitri decided to move to Germany to continue his education. In one year, he learned German and explored almost all of western Europe.
After a year in Germany, his family decided to move to the U.S. for more education and career opportunities for Dhimitri.
He enrolled at St. Petersburg College, worked as a customer service associate at a Publix, then worked at Wells Fargo and at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. He began scuba diving and conducting marine biology research.
“The underwater world became his passion,” Nasto said. Dhimitri went on scuba-diving trips in the Florida Keys, the Bahamas and Mexico.
But his true love was still accounting, Nasto said. He enrolled at USF St. Petersburg in summer 2017 to pursue a major in finance.
Andoni tried to persuade his cousin Nasto to transfer from USF Tampa to USF St. Petersburg, saying that the view from campus was priceless.
The night he was killed, Andoni had just left his advanced corporation finance class at the Kate Tiedemann College of Business.
He was driving home along I-275 around Fifth Avenue N when he stopped to check on a motorist whose car had spun out of control and landed in the median, the Highway Patrol said.
As Andoni was returning to his car, a 1996 Ford F-150 pickup driven by Dana Thomas Byrd, 30, struck and killed Andoni before it came to rest in the median, the Highway Patrol said.
Byrd got out of his truck, went over to Andoni, and “after patting” him, stole his 2015 Hyundai sedan and fled.
Andoni’s father used a GPS tracker to trace the car and called authorities. When they investigated the abandoned car, the video from the GoPro on the dashboard showed what had happened.
Meanwhile, a road ranger from the Florida Department of Transportation who investigated the abandoned pickup truck along I-275 also discovered Andoni’s body.
Byrd was arrested Sept. 21 on charges of grand theft auto and leaving the scene of a crash involving a death. Bail was set at $100,000.
According to Pinellas County records, Byrd has been arrested 16 other times since 2005 on charges ranging from domestic battery to neglect of a child.
Martina Schmidt is the professor who teaches the class that Andoni attended shortly before he was killed.
“I just can’t believe he won’t be there for the rest of the semester,” she said. “He was there every time, always on time, a really nice student. He was a very bright young man and he had just a fabulous future in front of him.”
Last week, Andoni’s classmates paid tribute to him by placing flowers on the empty desk where he sat.
“Dhimitri planned to graduate in spring 2019,” said his cousin Nasto. “But I guess this December I will graduate for us both.”
This was a great read. So often, we read crime reports and forget the victims had lives and families who loved them. Thanks for a great reminder that there’s a story behind every crime statistic.
Thank you to Crow’s Nest for writing such a beautiful article on Dhimitri and embracing who he truly was.