ORLANDO, Fla. – An arrest has been made nearly two years after a hit-and-run crash in Orlando that killed a 5-year-old girl who was traveling in an Uber with her aunt and sisters.
Yosefi Arabu, 35, was arrested Monday and faces multiple charges stemming from the November 2023 wreck.
Aiyanna McCoy and her family were struck by a silver Mercedes while they were in the Uber, a Nissan Pathfinder, on North Orange Blossom Trail near Ace Road in Orange County.
[VIDEO BELOW: 5-year-old killed in hit-and-run]
According to the Orlando Police Department, the silver Mercedes became inoperable after the crash, and the driver ran away before being picked up by another vehicle.
Aiyanna was taken to a hospital, where she died. Her aunt, who was 26 at the time, suffered “significant injuries.” Aiyanna’s two sisters, who were ages 4 and 9 at the time, suffered minor injuries. The Uber driver was not injured.
News 6 spoke to Billy McCoy, Aiyanna’s father, in 2024 while police were still investigating. He said this journey to find answers has been an uphill battle but said they’re glad to see a suspect in custody.
“It rained for seven days after that happened,” McCoy said. “So not only was I sad, the angels in heaven was sad, you know, a lot of people were sad. You know, it was a sad time. So, yeah, you know, I’m glad that we are finally getting the little justice that we deserve.”
When McCoy found out about the arrest, all of the emotions started coming back.
“Like man, they finally got him,” McCoy said. “It’s been two years, you know? So the work is finally paying off.”
Police said on the night of the crash, witnesses told them that two people got out of the car after the wreck and the driver took the plate off of the car. Investigators were able to obtain a search warrant for the address registered to the car and found the license plate between the mattress and box spring.
Police also took Arabu’s phone during the search and found text messages about the license plate and bloody tissues.
The report also details an interview between investigators and a woman who in the car with Arabu when the crash happened. She told investigators that he was behind the wheel of her car and that she was in the passenger seat during the crash.
According to the report, she told police she saw the odometer read 130 mph and said despite telling him to slow down and him having no way to avoid the crash, he continued to drive more than double the speed limit.
The report said the Florida Highway Patrol found the car was going 130 mph just 5 seconds before the crash. FHP said it was going 101 mph when the crash happened.
“Very careless actions of his,” McCoy said. “Heartbreaking to know that, you know, these people out there driving that fast.”
Investigators also collected DNA evidence and sent five items to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for testing including:
- A front stain from the deployed airbag in the front passenger seat of the Mercedes C300
- A back stain from the deployed airbag in the front passenger seat of the Mercedes C300
- Deployed airbag from steering wheel column of the Mercedes C300
- The license plate
- Swabs from the exterior trunk of the Mercedes C300.
According to the report, the DNA profile from those items matched Arabu.
News 6 has reached out to Orlando police to see if anyone else in this case could be facing charges, and they tell us they do not have additional information to release at this time.
Aiyanna was a kindergartner at Orange Center Elementary School in Orlando and loved to dance and sing and to perform gymnastics. According to a statement released in 2023 by East Law of Florida, she had a “joyous spirit, love for dance, singing and gymnastics.”
Arabu faces charges of vehicular homicide, leaving the scene of a crash with death, three counts of driving without a valid license resulting in death or serious injury, tampering with physical evidence, two counts of reckless driving causing serious bodily injury and two counts of reckless driving resulting in damage to person or property.