ORLANDO, Fla. – The man accused of killing a 5-year-old in a hit-and-run crash in Orlando will be in court Friday.
Yosefi Arabu, aged 35, was taken into custody on Monday, charged in connection to the November 2023 accident. He is slated for a bond hearing on Friday morning.
The prosecution has filed a motion to detain him prior to trial, advocating for his continued incarceration. This decision stems from his record of violating probation in previous cases and the specifics of this incident.
In 2023, a silver Mercedes collided with Aiyanna McCoy and her family as they traveled in a Nissan Pathfinder Uber on North Orange Blossom Trail, near Ace Road in Orange County.
The Orlando Police Department reported that following the collision, the Mercedes was left inoperable, and the driver fled on foot before being retrieved by another vehicle.
Despite running off, Orlando police were able to arrest Arabu after obtaining DNA and other evidence linking him to the crime.
On the night of the incident, witnesses recounted to police that two individuals exited the vehicle, and the driver removed the license plate. Investigators secured a search warrant for the car’s registered address and discovered the plate hidden between a mattress and box spring.
Police also took Arabu’s phone during the search and found text messages about the license plate and bloody tissues.
The police report also mentions an interview with a woman present in the vehicle with Arabu at the time of the accident. She confirmed to investigators that he was driving her car while she was the passenger during the crash.
According to the report, she told police she saw the odometer read 130 mph and said, despite telling him to slow down and him having no way to avoid the crash, he continued to drive more than double the speed limit.
The report said the Florida Highway Patrol found the car was going 130 mph just five seconds before the crash. FHP said it was going 101 mph when the crash happened.
News 6 spoke to Billy McCoy, Aiyanna’s father, in 2024 while police were still investigating. He said this journey to find answers has been an uphill battle, but said they’re glad to see a suspect in custody.
“It rained for seven days after that happened,” McCoy said. “So not only was I sad, the angels in heaven (were) sad, you know, a lot of people were sad. You know, it was a sad time. So, yeah, you know, I’m glad that we are finally getting the little justice that we deserve.”
Investigators also collected DNA evidence and sent five items to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for testing, including:
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A front stain from the deployed airbag in the front passenger seat of the Mercedes C300
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A back stain from the deployed airbag in the front passenger seat of the Mercedes C300
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Deployed the airbag from the steering wheel column of the Mercedes C300
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The license plate
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Swabs from the exterior trunk of the Mercedes C300
According to the report, the DNA profile from those items matched Arabu.
News 6 has reached out to Orlando police to see if anyone else in this case could be facing charges, and OPD said it does not have additional information to release at this time.
Arabu faces charges of vehicular homicide, leaving the scene of a crash with death, three counts of driving without a valid license resulting in death or serious injury, tampering with physical evidence, two counts of reckless driving causing serious bodily injury, and two counts of reckless driving resulting in damage to person or property.
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