SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – A woman on her way back from visiting her sick father in the hospital was killed when a suspected drunk driver rear-ended her car at a red light and fled the scene in Lake Mary late Tuesday night. Now, her heartbroken fiancé is speaking out — not just about his loss, but about the decision he says cost Danielle Akers her life.
The Lake Mary Police Department is investigating the fatal crash, which occurred at approximately 11 p.m. Tuesday at the intersection of W. Lake Mary Boulevard and Wheelhouse Lane.
Akers’ fiancé, Shawn Kelly, said she had dropped him off at a nearby hotel before heading to the hospital to visit her ailing father.
“Danielle had just dropped me, and our dog Bella, off at the hotel, so she could go visit her dad,” Kelly wrote on Facebook. “On her return from the hospital, coming back to the hotel, was when the crash occurred.”
According to an arrest report obtained by News 6, traffic camera footage captured Akers’ Hyundai sedan stopped at the red light at W. Lake Mary Boulevard and Wheelhouse Lane when a silver Kia sedan slammed into it from behind at a high rate of speed. The Kia then fled the scene.
[WATCH: Longwood man arrested in Lake Mary fatal hit-and-run crash]
“She was at a stoplight and was hit from behind by a drunk driver,” Kelly told News 6 after returning to the couple’s home in Georgetown. “He either never braked at all, or very little, or too late — and just had such a hard impact that it took her life.”
Officers arriving on scene found Akers entrapped in the driver’s seat of her Hyundai, which had sustained severe rear-end damage, preventing first responders from administering life-saving measures.
A 911 caller reported the crash near a Winn-Dixie on Lake Mary Boulevard, describing an unresponsive woman inside a sedan.
“She’s not responding,” the caller told the dispatcher, as bystanders attempted to reach Akers inside the damaged vehicle.
Witnesses told the dispatcher the fleeing vehicle — a silver car — had pulled behind the Winn-Dixie.
“It almost hit me, actually,” one witness told the dispatcher.
At approximately 11:09 p.m., dispatchers received another 911 call reporting a disabled vehicle near W. Lake Mary Boulevard and N. Forest Boulevard. The caller reported that a male had exited a silver Kia sedan and was stumbling in the roadway, asking passing vehicles for a ride.
Police located the silver Kia with severe front-end damage and multiple empty alcoholic beverage containers in plain view, according to the arrest report. The driver was later identified as O’Vante O’Lan Redding, 22, of Longwood.
According to the arrest report, Redding appeared unaware of his surroundings and told officers the Kia belonged to his boyfriend. He then repeated the same phrase several times.
“Please do not take me to jail,” Redding reportedly said.
Redding’s arrest report says officers detected an “overwhelming odor of alcohol” and observed bloodshot, glassy eyes, slow and pronounced body movements, and unsteadiness on his feet. While being transported to Orlando Health Lake Mary Hospital for injuries sustained in the crash, Redding reportedly told fire department personnel he had been consuming alcohol.
Redding faces charges of DUI manslaughter, leaving the scene of a crash involving death, and vehicular homicide. He appeared in front of a judge for the first time Thursday afternoon, and is being held without bond at the jail in Seminole County.
Sonja Pollard, who has known Redding and his family for years, came to the jail Thursday to support him. Pollard says Redding was enrolled in electrician school and was expected to graduate in December.
“He was going to be graduating in December, and we were all happy for him because he was young. He wanted to start his life and get a career,” Pollard said. “He was trying to get his life on track.”
Pollard was visibly emotional, saying her grief extended to both sides of the tragedy.
“When I saw the words underneath his charge, I immediately cried. Not just for O’Vante but also for the victim,” she said. “I know he’s remorseful. I know because he is a good kid,” Pollard added.
Akers’ fiancé says it’s been a very difficult few days.
“If I’m going to be objective and fair, I understand human nature,” Kelly said. “It’s human nature to probably be scared. You did something wrong. And if you’re impaired on top of it all, you’re not going to be thinking clearly. I don’t respect him for doing that, but I understand him doing that.”
But Kelly said no outcome in the courtroom will ease his grief.
“I don’t know if I’m at the point of forgiveness, but regardless of whether I forgive him or what his ultimate outcome is, it’s more important to me that I’ll never see her again,” Kelly said. “No form of justice will change that.”
Kelly said Akers was beloved by everyone who knew her, including hundreds of customers and coworkers at Renegades on the River, a restaurant in Putnam County where she worked as a server and helped with management.
“She was so warm and loving and caring and selfless, and she always was happy and wanted to help others,” Kelly said.
Kelly said he wants people to understand the full weight of the decision to drive drunk.
“Drunk driving isn’t just a decision on whether you think you’re going to make it home or not,” Kelly said. “It’s a decision on whether you might take the lives of not only yourself, but what about others? You could be impacting hundreds, possibly thousands of people from one decision.”
Kelly said coming home without Akers has been almost impossible to process.
“It’s such a weird and odd feeling to come home and just think that somebody that you’re always used to being here — just the two of us, always together — and now to be home and not have her here,” he said. “You expect her to just come home, walk in the door. You want that to be different. You want that to change, but you can’t.”
Kelly said Akers was the family’s sole provider, and her death has left him facing significant financial hardship. He said he is currently out of work due to health complications from diabetes and has set up a GoFundMe to help cover rent, utilities, food, funeral costs, and travel expenses.