The woman who was charged in a hit-and-run crash that left a 12-year-old hurt has been convicted by a jury of leaving the scene of an accident.
Michelle Lynn Simkins, 29 was convicted of second-degree felony charges involving leaving the scene of a crash and causing serious bodily injury, which could send her to prison for up to 15 years.
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Her sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 22.
Opening statements began Tuesday at the Moore Justice Center in Viera. Thomas Gregory, who spent several months recovering, was the first witness called.
"I remember playing...and taking that first step and then waking up in the ambulance and going back to sleep," Thomas, now 13 told jurors shortly after opening statements from the state and the defense.
Defense attorney Oscar Hotusing said he planned to raise the issue of why Thomas, along with several other companions were playing late at night on a darkened street without any parental supervision. “It’s not as simple as the state is making it seem. Was the child injured? Yes, but you are going to have to decide if this child was a pedestrian,” Hotusing told jurors during a short, ten-minute opening statement.
Cocoa Beach Police said Simkins, 29, struck then 12-year-old Thomas with her car at around 10 p.m. on New Year's Eve 2014 as he and his friends played in the street. Witnesses said Thomas stepped out into the street and was tossed into the windshield and carried a short distance before rolling off the hood and onto the pavement. Michael Dilelo, 12, took the stand and told jurors that Thomas and the others were playing a game that involved air soft guns and darting out across the road to find a home base. Thomas’ parents were inside watching a football game, another friend testified.
“It sounded kind of like a motorcycle,” Dilelo said, describing the noise the vehicle made before driving off, leaving Thomas behind on the ground.
Simkins, leaned forward at the defense table and listened intently, occasionally scribbling notes for her attorneys. Police tracked down her vehicle to her Cocoa address. Simkins initially told police she had loaned the vehicle out to someone she only knew as ‘Becky.’ Later, detectives recorded her in a telephone conversation talking about the accident.
Thomas, who suffered two broken legs, spent months recovering from the injuries.