Florida Woman Charged Over Death of 4-year-old After Her SUV Crashed in Daycare, Rearrested and Now Held Without Bail

By Joshua Summers First Posted: Mar 21, 2022 12:48 AM EDT

A Florida woman who was charged over the death of a four-year-old after her SUC crashed in daycare was rearrested and held without bail on Sunday.

According to New York Post, Kiara Morant, 18, was the driver of an SUV that allegedly plowed into a playground in Florida on Wednesday. She was then charged with driving without a license following the tragedy.

The outlet furthered that Morant was initially released on a $120 paltry bond. However, the Florida woman reportedly struck two children, and one of them reportedly died following the tragedy.

This led to cops upgrading her charges to felony counts of driving without a license resulting in serious injury or death. On Sunday, Morant was rearrested and is held without bail, the Post noted, citing WWSB-TV.

Morant is currently held in Lee County Detention Center, per the Post.

4-year-old Maleena Valdez Dies After Florida Woman's SUV Crash on Daycare

According to reports, authorities mentioned that the accident occurred around 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday last week, when Morant allegedly lost control of the SUV and drove through a link chain fence of a daycare center in Arcadia.

One of the victims, identified as four-year-old Maleena Valdez, met her demise.

According to People, emergency personnel transported Valdez to Gulf Coast Hospital. However, authorities claimed that the child later died in the healthcare facility.

Another five-year-old child was brought to DeSoto Memorial Hospital and remains in serious condition as of Sunday.

On Friday, Valdez's mother, who was not identified, spoke to Wink News following the death of her daughter. She said that her "heart is still in so much pain," and it was challenging for her to say anything else.

Maleena Valdez's father, Miguel Romo, expressed how he felt, saying that he wished that the death of his daughter did not happen.

"Last time I saw her, I had to drop her off at daycare, and obviously she didn't want to go a little bit of tears because that's just how it is. She never wanted to leave my side," Romo added.

On Friday, the Florida community where Valdez lived offered a vigil. Wink News noted that more than a hundred people gathered to pray and observe a moment of silence before lighting candles and releasing balloons.

Florida Woman Charged for the Death of Maleena Valdez Has Previous Hit-and-Run Records

Morant has a previous run-in with the law. According to Wink News, Cape Coral records revealed that the Florida woman was linked to charges since she was 14 years old.

The outlet then revealed that last month, Fort Myers police arrested her for shoplifting at the Edison Mall.

In 2021, the records also showed that Morant was linked to a hit-and-run. However, the report did not mention who was behind the wheel when the accident occurred.

The records from Cape Coral also showed that the Florida woman was tied to four battery charges. However, Wink News said that Morant's involvement was "blacked out."

Fort Myers attorney, Scott Goldberg, said that the significance of the said charges is "minimal," per Wink News.

"It shouldn't impact her at all with how she's charged, and how she's prosecuted because what her prior arrests were, and all of those things, don't have a lot of relevance to her guilt or innocence in this chart," Goldberg said.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written By: Joshua Summers

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