Leigha Mumby

Introduction

Leigha Mumby is a 25-year-old Florida woman convicted on October 14, 2026, of vehicular homicide and reckless driving causing serious bodily injury for steering her car off Interstate 95 at nearly 100 mph and into trees — a crash that killed her boyfriend, Daniel Waterman, 22. A Flagler County jury of three men and three women took 71 minutes to convict her after a two-day trial, and she was handcuffed and remanded to the county jail pending a sentencing that has not yet been scheduled. The New York Post’s coverage likened the case to that of Mackenzie Shirilla, the Ohio driver convicted in 2023 of deliberately crashing into a wall at 100 mph and killing her boyfriend and his friend.

Background Information

Mumby and Waterman, a New York native, were dating in the Flagler Beach area of Flagler County when, on the night of February 9, 2025 — Super Bowl Sunday — the crash happened off I-95 in the woods two miles north of the Palm Coast Parkway. That morning Mumby had told Waterman she was pregnant after taking a pregnancy test, and she spent part of the day at the beach with a friend, telling her “I am not going to put up with him cheating on me” after learning he had been texting another woman. That evening the couple attended a party at Waterman’s cousins’ house in Palm Coast’s B Section, and Mumby was driving her 2019 Honda Passport toward Flagler Beach when she turned around to bring Waterman back to the cousins’ house.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Convicted. A Flagler County jury found Mumby guilty on October 14, 2026, of vehicular homicide and reckless driving causing serious bodily injury in the death of Daniel Waterman. The defense argued she never intended the crash; the jury rejected that account, and she was remanded to jail pending sentencing.

Prosecutors said Mumby and Waterman were arguing as she drove at speeds reaching 110 mph, and that at 94 mph “she suddenly turned the steering wheel to the left, causing the vehicle to veer off the highway and crash into several trees.” Assistant State Attorney Melissa Clark told jurors Mumby had learned she was pregnant that morning, then discovered Waterman’s texts with another woman, and vented to a best friend before abruptly hanging up: “That was Leigha Mumby’s demeanor at the time of the crash.”

Waterman survived the initial crash with a broken neck — the criminal complaint listed a C6-7 fracture among injuries including a clavicle fracture, femur fracture, hip dislocation and epidural hematoma — and was left paralyzed from the neck down. He woke from his coma on May 15, 2025, and reportedly told investigators Mumby had crashed on purpose; Officer Darin Harper’s affidavit recorded Waterman’s account that she slowed to 50 mph, sped back up to 80–90 mph when he tried to get out, and that the last thing he remembered was her saying “I don’t care what happens, you’ll get what you deserve” before the Passport swerved into a tree. Waterman died of pneumonia on October 8, 2025, eight months after the crash.

Vehicle telemetry data traced the car’s final seconds: a sharp 45-degree turn to the left about 3.5 seconds before impact, followed by a 70-degree turn to the right that sent it careening into the woods. Mumby’s defense attorney, Reid Hart, told jurors there was “zero evidence” she was “on a suicide mission,” pointing to the rightward steering correction and to roommate Michael Tolbert’s testimony that Waterman had been reaching for her phone shortly before the left turn. Clark countered that the state did not have to prove intent — only that a driver cutting the wheel at 94 mph had acted recklessly — and the jury agreed within 71 minutes. Mumby sobbed as the verdict was read, then was handcuffed by a bailiff and remanded to the Flagler County jail.

Public Reaction and Consequences

In the Flagler County courtroom, a fist briefly went up among Waterman’s family and friends as the verdict landed, while Mumby — who had kept her eyes closed as the clerk read it — cried and then sobbed as she was led out in cuffs. The New York Post framed the conviction against the shadow of the Mackenzie Shirilla case, noting Shirilla is serving 15 years to life for the 2022 Ohio crash that killed her boyfriend and his friend, and that a judge had just rejected her bid to reopen the case. People, citing the Office of the State Attorney for Florida’s Seventh Judicial Circuit, confirmed both felony convictions, and national coverage of the two-day trial turned on its unusual core evidence: a paralyzed victim who lived long enough to tell investigators what happened.

Current Status

As of October 15, 2026, Mumby remains in the Flagler County jail pending sentencing, and a sentencing date has yet to be scheduled. FlaglerLive reported the two felony convictions carry a combined maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. She has since recovered from her own crash injuries and given birth to the baby she was carrying at the time of the crash. The charge was reportedly filed only after Waterman woke from his coma and gave investigators his account in May 2025, and no appeal has been announced.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The conviction converted a year of competing crash narratives into an adjudicated record: two felonies, a jail remand, and a sentencing hearing that will determine whether the Shirilla comparison ends in a comparable sentence. For Waterman’s family, the verdict validated the account he gave from a hospital bed after more than three months in a coma — the statement that produced the charges and that the defense spent the trial explaining away. The case also shows vehicle-telemetry evidence deciding an otherwise ambiguous solo crash, with the 45-degree steering input figuring as the central exhibit.

Sources

• New York Post, “Girlfiend convicted of killing beau by driving into trees at almost 100 mph after learning she was pregnant,” October 15, 2026 — source
• People, “Pregnant Woman Crashed Car at Nearly 100 MPH, Killing Boyfriend. Now She’s Convicted,” October 15, 2026 — source
• FlaglerLive, “Jury Convicts Leigha Mumby of Vehicular Homicide in High-Speed Interstate Crash That Killed Boyfriend,” October 14, 2026 — source
• Law&Crime, “Woman convicted of killing boyfriend in Honda car crash,” October 2026 — source