Inset left: Donsia Kizer (obituary). Inset right: Esperanza Villafana (Allen County Sheriff’s Department). Background: Part of the 6700 block of Maysville Road in Fort Wayne, Indiana (Google Maps).
An Indiana woman accused in a deadly Fort Wayne hit-and-run was allegedly impaired behind the wheel of a Ford F-150 when she struck a man with such force that one of his shoes was knocked nearly 100 feet away — and then later came back to the crash site to see what had happened, authorities said.
Esperanza Villafana, 26, faces charges of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death or catastrophic injury and obstruction of justice in the death of 49-year-old Donsia Kizer, according to court documents reviewed by Law&Crime.
The fatal crash unfolded shortly before midnight on June 18, when Villafana was allegedly driving a Ford F-150 near the 6700 block of Maysville Road in Fort Wayne, the Fort Wayne Police Department said.
Investigators were told by a “credible source” that they had been with Villafana before the collision and that she had used alcohol and marijuana before heading out to make DoorDash deliveries, Fort Wayne ABC and NBC affiliate WPTA reported.
After the crash, Villafana allegedly contacted that same person and claimed she had hit an animal.
When officers arrived in the area, they reportedly found Kizer lying on his back in the roadway, his eyes open and arms outstretched. His left shoe was missing and was later discovered roughly 90 feet from where his body was found.
Investigators also located pieces of plastic headlight debris nearby, which police said appeared consistent with parts from a Ford F-150 manufactured sometime between 2009 and 2014.
Authorities determined Kizer died from blunt force trauma, and there were signs of his body being dragged.
Investigators said they saw surveillance footage of a red Ford F-150 turning in the area around the time of the crash, and license plate tracking paired the vehicle with one that belonged to a man who lived with Villafana.
The defendant apparently spoke more with the source, saying she had “seen him” when she went back to the crash site with a friend.
Investigators later caught up with Villafana. She allegedly admitted on that night, she heard a beeping noise and looked down when she felt something, believing she had struck a mailbox or a dog.
However, she later showed the source a news report about the crash, saying she had been finding it difficult to deal with the situation, according to WPTA. When a detective asked if the only reason she believed she had hit someone was because she saw it on the news, she nodded yes, authorities said.
The defendant also allegedly repeatedly checked police activity news after the crash to “see if it was a person” and changed the truck’s appearance in case investigators were looking for it.
Villafana is being held in the Allen County Jail without bond. It is unclear when she is due next in court.
The post DoorDash driver smashed Ford F-150 into man, killing him and sending his shoe flying before she checked police news to ‘see if it was a person’: Cops first appeared on Law & Crime.
