A 24-year-old Florida woman was arrested last week for a fatal hit-and-run earlier this month in Lakeland.
Aliya Cruz was arrested on Friday and charged with leaving the scene of a crash involving death, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said.
According to the sheriff’s office, a 911 call came in reporting a woman lying in the street just before 4 a.m. on August 18. First responders arrived to find 27-year-old Danielle Stillwell deceased, with damaged vehicle parts at the scene suggesting a vehicle was involved, although none was present.
The parts discovered included a fender liner from the front driver’s side and a fragment of the front bumper. The fender liner had a part number, leading investigators to determine it was from a 2019 to 2022 Kia Forte.
Investigators then searched the area for surveillance footage. A nearby gas station’s cameras captured footage of a black sedan in the vicinity. It was seen moving westbound on W. Highland Street, making a right onto Wabash, then immediately performing a U-turn, and subsequently turning right again to proceed on its original path.
“The vehicle did not remain on scene, nor did the driver render aid or call for help,” the sheriff’s office said.
Deputies tracked down black Kia Fortes registered in Polk County, locating one parked at a house on West Highland Street. This car was missing a portion of its driver’s side bumper and the front left fender liner.
When detectives spoke with Cruz, the owner of the car, she told them she’d left home shortly before 4 a.m. that morning, heading for work.
The driver explained to detectives that she was driving when a truck with high beams on approached from the opposite direction, impairing her visibility. After the truck turned right, she noticed a woman on the roadway ahead with her hands covering her face.
Cruz reported swerving to avoid the woman, believing she did not hit her but was uncertain. She admitted to making a right turn, a U-turn, and then returning to West Highland to continue to work, wanting to avoid being late.
Detectives verified Cruz’s arrival at work at a Publix warehouse that morning with security cameras and badge readers. A supervisor said that Cruz told him she had “possibly killed someone” and showed him photos of the damage to her car.
“He advised her to call the police and report it,” the sheriff’s office said. “She made other statements such as, ‘I don’t really want to say anything,’ ‘Well uhm, I know I didn’t hit them,’ ‘I don’t think I hit the person,’ and ‘I know I swerved.’”
Law&Crime said it viewed the surveillance video, and it wasn’t clear if there had been a truck traveling on the route.
“[T]here isn’t anything [on the video] to corroborate her story,” the sheriff’s office told the outlet in an email.
At a second interview with Cruz on Friday, she admitted taking photos of the damage to her car and telling her boss she was worried because she wasn’t sure if she hit the person. She said she asked him what she should do, and he told her that she should have stopped and notified police.
Cruz was released Sunday on a $50,000 bail, jail records show.
