By TAMARA LUSH
Associated Press

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - The parents of a Florida motorist accused of intentionally running over and killing a cyclist out for a ride with his two young sons said Monday that their son is a talented track and field athlete who struggles with profound mental illness.

Michael and Khadeeja Morse told The Associated Press they are devastated and offered their condolences to the family of the victim.

Tampa Police said Mikese Morse, a 30-year-old former Olympic hopeful, "purposely drove off the road" Sunday afternoon, cutting across traffic and over a grass easement, killing 42-year-old Pedro Aguerreberry.

Morse's parents said that there was nothing purposeful about it - that their son was in the throes of a psychotic break.

"The system failed us, they failed our child, they failed this family. We've tried everything, this should have never happened, and now our child is also affected and he's hurt someone else's family," said a crying Khadeeja Morse. "He was a good child with a mental health issue that we tried to get addressed."

They said with despair that they were unable to do much over the years to help their son because he is an adult.

Two weeks ago, they said, Mikese Morse walked into a Tampa Police station and told them he wasn't doing well and asked to be involuntarily committed. An officer brought him to a mental health facility, where he had been seen before.

His parents said that while in the facility, he had an altercation with another person and the facility then released him June 19. He then refused to take his medicine and there was little his parents could do, they said, because he didn't live with them.

"He's high-functioning right now," said his mother, who said she gave some advice to the doctors at the facility. "He's very smart, he'll be able to talk his way out. Don't listen to just what he's saying. Monitor his behavior."

The Morses say their son has struggled mentally since his early twenties, all while trying to pursue a track career.

As an athlete, Morse specialized in the long jump. He attended University of South Florida in Tampa, where he won the Big East Championship for leaping 25 feet, seven-and-a-half inches (7.81 meters). He also attended the University of Miami.

He qualified for the United States Olympic Trials three times and was a finalist in 2008 and 2016, but never made the team.

In recent years, Morse had taken to social media, sometimes making incomprehensible and troubling videos. The parents said they spoke with police and therapists about his rants.

"We've pointed them to his social media. We stopped following it because it was so disturbing," said Khadeeja Morse.

Morse appeared visibly angry and increasingly incoherent in videos posted on Instagram Sunday morning. They show him talking about acting in the name of the Lord while walking around a Wal-Mart store. One video ends, "I'm going to kill somebody tonight right now."

In another video posted later Sunday, Morse speaks to the camera and says, "Yeah, devil, this is all your fault. Yeah, devil, this is all your fault, all your fault because you descended to earth. You had a choice and you knew exactly what to do. You said you don't care about anybody down here."

His Instagram feed also shows photos of him at track events, references to hip-hop music and sports, and religious texts.

On Sunday, Khadeeja Morse was planning on dinner for the family, expecting her son to be there. But instead, police knocked on the door of their pale yellow house in an upscale suburban neighborhood. That night authorities took their son into custody.

Authorities said someone had spotted the vehicle north of downtown Tampa and called 911.

Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan told reporters that a witness described the driver of a Dodge Avenger pulling a U-turn, cutting across traffic and driving over a grass easement before hitting the family and speeding away.

The father was pulling one child in a trailer while his older son followed behind on an off-road bike path. All were wearing helmets. Aguerreberry was killed and his 3-year-old, Bennett, was seriously injured. His 8-year-old, Lucas, wasn't seriously hurt.

Morse, who has been jailed, is charged with premeditated first-degree murder and leaving the scene of a crash with a death and injuries. Jail records don't list a defense lawyer for him.

Court records show Morse was previously cited for a handful of traffic citations, such as driving with a suspended license and driving a vehicle in an unsafe condition. He was cited last year for possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana, a civil infraction in the city of Tampa.

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Jennifer Kay contributed to this report from Miami.

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