Nationwide — The Washington family, a prominent African American family with deep ties to the University of South Florida (USF), is sounding the alarm on what they call a blatant cover-up. At the center of the scandal are Victor Crist, the Hillsborough County Clerk of Court, and his wife, Angela, a longtime employee of USF.
Together, the couple is accused of conspiring to shield USF and its doctors from accountability in the wrongful death of Patricia Washington by erasing critical court records. The Florida Supreme Court appointed Kemba Lewis, an African American circuit judge, to oversee the case; however, her first attempt was to dismiss the case without a hearing.
The Wrongful Death of Patricia Washington
Patricia Washington underwent surgery at Tampa General Hospital (TGH), performed by a surgeon employed by USF Health. That procedure left her with an open wound near her heart, which eventually became septic. Despite clear medical risks, the doctor refused to close or treat the wound. Patricia later died from sepsis, and troublingly, the physician allowed his medical license to lapse, allegedly after his privileges at TGH were revoked.
The Washington family filed a verified wrongful death complaint in Hillsborough County, identifying USF Health doctors and TGH as defendants. The case was initially docketed as 25-CA-2858, with summonses issued to the parties. Another related case, 24-CA-1919, documented presuit compliance notifications, ensuring the family had met procedural requirements. But as the two-year statute of limitations deadline loomed, both cases suddenly vanished from the court’s official record.
Allegations Against Clerk of Court Victor Crist
The family’s investigation uncovered that the disappearance of Patricia’s cases wasn’t a clerical error—it was deliberate. They accuse Clerk of Court Victor Crist of ordering his office to delete the filings, effectively erasing Patricia’s wrongful death action and presuit compliance evidence. For a sitting Clerk of Court, such an act represents an unprecedented breach of neutrality, converting the court itself into an active participant in shielding USF from lawsuits and bad publicity.
The Nepotism Connection: Angela Crist at USF
The motive, the Washingtons allege, lies in the Crist family’s ties to USF. Victor’s wife, Angela, is a longtime employee of the university. USF not only employs her but also employs the very doctors at USF Health and Morsani College of Medicine who treated Patricia at TGH before her death. The Washingtons believe this link represents a direct conflict of interest and points to nepotism as a driving force behind the destruction of their legal filings.
A Pattern of Judicial Protection for USF
The family’s ordeal doesn’t stop with the Crists. They cite a broader pattern of judges and court officials stepping in to insulate USF from accountability. Retired Judge Gregory P. Holder allegedly manipulated court systems to issue harmful rulings against USF critics, while Circuit Judge Melissa Polo issued an extraordinary injunction in 2022 that barred the Washingtons from pursuing public records access against the university. Federal Judge Steven D. Merryday later reinforced Polo’s order, locking the family out of both state and federal courts.
Calls for Federal Investigation
The Washingtons are urging the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI to widen their lens beyond Title VI enforcement at USF and directly probe the university’s influence over the Florida judiciary. They argue that the Crist conspiracy—deleting wrongful death filings from official records—should be the starting point of such an inquiry. The family points to surveillance footage of Crist and several judges meeting privately with Judge Merryday on June 10, 2025, as further evidence of collusion.
“Court officials are not supposed to conspire with universities to make cases disappear,” the family said in a statement. “The deletion of Patricia’s files shows just how far the corruption has spread, and it cannot stand.”