Florida Woman Sobbed in Court Over Alleged Hit-and-Run Death

A Florida courtroom scene took a sharp turn Tuesday when Leigha Mumby, 25, collapsed into uncontrollable sobbing before the jury could even hear the full case against her. Prosecutors had just started their opening statement accusing the woman of intentionally ramming her boyfriend to death in a car crash. The judge immediately ordered the jurors out of the room so Mumby could regain control. Footage captured the moment shows her clutching her head and wiping tears from her eyes before she assured the court she was fine and promised to stay calm.

The legal battle centers on an event in February 2025 that ended two lives, or at least one life for sure, with the other left broken. Mumby is charged with reckless driving causing serious bodily injury and vehicular homicide. Her attorneys claim it was a freak accident, yet prosecutors say she deliberately crashed her vehicle to kill Daniel Waterman, 22. The evidence presented suggests Mumby drove over 100mph on the I-95 highway in Bunnell before making an abrupt left-hand turn at 45 degrees. That maneuver flipped the car into a wooded area.

The physical toll on both parties was severe. Waterman suffered a shattered neck and ended up paralyzed from that point down. He fell into a coma and died eight months later. Prosecutors maintain his death was directly caused by this specific crash. Mumby also sustained serious injuries during the impact. The emotional weight of the proceedings clearly hit her hard as she faced the reality of the allegations laid out against her in open court.

Eight months after the fatal crash, Daniel Waterman died from his injuries. The accident happened following a Super Bowl party hosted by Waterman's cousin, Sarah Stappenbeck. Prosecutors claim an argument between Mumby and Waterman sparked the disaster. A hearing on Tuesday faced a delay because Mumby became emotional during testimony.

Stappenbeck took the stand to describe the couple's troubled relationship. She revealed she only recently learned Mumby was pregnant at the time of the crash. Stappenbeck said she voiced worries that Waterman was talking to other women. "I wasn't going to let Daniel cheat on (Mumby)," she stated. At the party, however, the pair seemed fine together.

They left early, but within twenty minutes Mumby called Stappenbeck with urgent news. She told her cousin Waterman was texting another girl. Mumby said she was driving Waterman back to her house. Stappenbeck tried to de-escalate the tension immediately. "I tried to tell them... Get home safe," Stappenbeck recalled saying in a report from CourtTV. She added there were many cars on the road during the big game and urged them not to worry until tomorrow.

Mumby ignored the pleas for safety. "She just said that 'You're taking his side,' and hung up with me," Stappenbeck testified. The couple did not return to her home. Stappenbeck received the next call from Mumby's roommate regarding the accident.

Waterman, a 22-year-old landscaper from Liverpool in Upstate New York, told investigators that Leigha Mumby crashed the car on purpose. An affidavit seen by the Daily Mail supports this account. Assistant State Attorney Melissa Clark opened Tuesday's trial alleging Mumby swerved her vehicle off the highway with reckless intent. She claimed the driver made a deliberate 45-degree turn into the woods.

Mumby's lawyer, Reid Hart, rejected the claim of intentional harm. He called the wreck a "pure and utter tragedy." Hart argued the case rests on one specific question for the jury. Does the evidence show Mumby chose to drive as described? Or does it make more sense that something unexpected happened inside the car she could not control? He suggested she tried hard to avoid hitting the trees but failed once momentum took over.

The trial began after a controversial ruling blocked prosecutors from playing an ICU interview with Waterman. Detectives recorded him saying he would get what he deserved moments before the crash, according to prosecution claims. Hart questioned whether that mindset explains the sudden violence of the impact. The case draws eerie parallels to Mackenzie Shirilla, who was jailed in August 2023 for killing her boyfriend and a friend by crashing into a wall in Ohio.

Prosecutors wanted to introduce a specific interview into court records, but legal rules protecting a defendant's right to cross-examine witnesses stopped them from doing so. Before Mumby went on trial, Waterman's aunt Tiffany spoke with the Daily Mail about how their family first accepted his claim that the crash was an accident. They allowed him hospital visits while he lay injured and confused.

Things changed when they heard evidence suggesting the crash was intentional. Tiffany said her family then saw a dangerous similarity to the case of Mackenzie Shirilla, known as 'Hell on Wheels' in the Netflix documentary The Crash. That Ohio murderess, now 23, deliberately slammed her Toyota Camry into a brick wall to kill her boyfriend Dominic Russo and his friend David Flanagan. She is currently serving life in prison for those July 2022 killings.

Mumby has since given birth to Waterman's child yet claims she remembers nothing of the event. Her family, however, insists he was hinting at her guilt from his hospital bed. They point to him turning pictures upside down when they were placed next to him in a photo shared with the Daily Mail. In that same footage, Waterman appears to try and pull away as Mumby visits him.

'He shook his head when Leigha came up to his bed,' Tiffany told the Daily Mail. 'He was coming in and out of consciousness, so we thought he was confused. When she tried to hold his hand, he pulled away. We didn't know why at the time.' The video shows Waterman jerking his head in apparent panic while relatives try to comfort him with promises that he is safe now. His mouth was obscured by several tubes, preventing him from speaking aloud during those moments.

Later, Tiffany said he used a letterboard to tell his mother that Mumby crashed the car on purpose after accusing him of cheating on her. 'He still had tubes in his mouth, but he said: 'Help me, help me. She killed me, she killed me,'' Tiffany reported. Mumby denies these serious allegations. Her trial is ongoing now, and she faces up to 35 years in prison if convicted.