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AUber Eats delivery person died this Thursday after being struck by a driver who fled the scene in Hialeah, in Miami-Dade County.
The victim was identified as Kenneth Wimbley Jr., 37 years old, who was cycling to complete an order when he was struck by a dark vehicle near the intersection of Southeast Fourth Avenue and East Okeechobee Road, around 4:11 in the morning.
According to the Hialeah Police, as reported to Local 10, Wimbley was crossing Okeechobee Road heading north from Miami Springs when he was struck by the vehicle, whose driver continued on without stopping.
Emergency services transported him to Jackson Memorial Hospital in extremely critical condition, where he died as a result of his injuries.
Security cameras in the area captured the moment of the impact.
According to the authorities and WSVN, Wimbley's body lay on the pavement for several minutes before a passerby stopped to help him.
The father demands justice
Kenneth Wimbley Sr. spoke to the media, visibly affected.
“My son was doing Uber Eats; he was riding a bike. The impact was so forceful that it knocked him off the bike, and the driver who hit him fled the scene,” the father stated to Univision.
What hurt him the most was knowing that the driver abandoned his son without offering any help.
"You left my son like a piece of dirt, a log, a hunk of meat on the road, and he didn't deserve that," he expressed to CBS Miami.
The father summed up his plea with a direct statement: “I just want justice. I just want justice.”
The victim's mother also expressed her outrage on social media:
"Incredible! How can you leave a human being by the side of the road without any remorse?"
The arrested person
Hours after the accident, Leonel Alejandro Laferte, 21, voluntarily appeared at the Hialeah Police Department requesting to speak with traffic detectives.
After several hours of interrogation, he was arrested by homicide detectives for trafficking.
No media outlet has specified the nationality of the arrested individual.
"A person arrived at the station wanting to speak with a detective, saying that he was involved in an accident this morning and did not remain at the scene," explained Lieutenant Eddie Rodríguez, spokesman for the Hialeah Police, as reported by Univision.
Laferte's dark-colored vehicle showed visible damage on the front and was missing the passenger side rearview mirror, as confirmed by Local 10.
Laferte is facing two charges: fleeing the scene of a fatal accident and driving with a suspended license.
Lieutenant Rodríguez warned, according to NBC 6, that by fleeing the scene, the driver could also face charges of vehicular homicide.
The penalties he/she faces
In Florida, leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death is a first-degree felony.
The state law establishes a mandatory minimum sentence of four years in prison and a maximum of 30 years, in addition to fines of up to $10,000 and the revocation of the driver's license for at least three years.
The case adds to a worrying pattern in South Florida. Miami-Dade recorded over 19,000 hit-and-run accidents in 2024, resulting in 32 fatalities.
Bicycle accidents in the county increased by 32% between 2020 and 2024, and the county ranks fourth nationally in cyclist deaths per capita.
The investigation remains open, and the Hialeah Police have indicated that they will not disclose additional information as the case progresses to the prosecutor's office.
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