A Florida woman accused of deliberately crashing an SUV with her boyfriend inside was furious over another girl’s text messages before making a sharp turn into the woods at nearly 100 mph, prosecutors told jurors Tuesday.
asserted
prosecutors → accuse → jurors
But Leigha Mumby’s defense attorney offered a different explanation as her trial opened, suggesting something happened inside the vehicle that she neither anticipated nor controlled.
Mumby, 25, has pleaded not guilty to vehicular homicide and reckless driving causing serious bodily injury in the death of Daniel Waterman, 22, who survived the crash, but died eight months later.
Assistant State Attorney Melissa Clark told jurors the couple had left a Super Bowl party before the Feb. 9, 2025, wreck on Interstate 95 in Flagler County, according to proceedings livestreamed by Court TV.
uncertain
couple → offer → TV
Clark said the SUV traveled at speeds exceeding 100 mph before the crash.
asserted
SUV → say → crash
Vehicle data showed it was moving at 94 mph in the final seconds before an "abrupt, left-hand turn at 45 degrees" sent it off the highway and into the woods.
asserted
turn → show → woods
The prosecutor described the turn as "a dangerous and reckless maneuver."
Waterman suffered a broken neck that left him paralyzed from the neck down, Clark said.
asserted
Clark → describe → neck
He fell into a coma and, after awakening, could not breathe on his own.
uncertain
He → fall → own
His death on Oct. 8, 2025, was "directly related and caused by this crash," Clark told the jury, who will not hear Waterman's own account of the crash that he told detectives before he died.
asserted
he → relate → detectives
He told investigators from his hospital bed that Mumby deliberately swerved off the road following an argument over another woman's text message.
asserted
Mumby → tell → message
A judge ruled those statements inadmissible, leaving prosecutors unable to present his version of events at trial.
asserted
statements → rule → trial
Defense attorney Reid Hart called the case a "pure and utter tragedy" and urged jurors to consider whether the SUV’s sudden change in direction resulted from something outside Mumby’s control.
"The crux of this trial effectively comes down to one steering wheel input, and ultimately one question," Hart said, according to Court TV’s livestream.
uncertain
Hart → call → livestream
Hart questioned whether Mumby chose to drive off the road or whether something happened inside the vehicle that "she did not expect, she did not anticipate, and she did not control."
asserted
she → question → that
He argued that once the vehicle began careening toward the woods, she could not stop it despite trying to avoid the crash.
uncertain
she → argue → crash
Jurors also heard Tuesday from Sarah Stappenbeck, Waterman’s cousin and Mumby’s best friend, who hosted the Super Bowl gathering.
asserted
who → hear → gathering
Stappenbeck testified that Mumby announced earlier that day that she had learned she was pregnant.
asserted
she → testify → ?
But the news came alongside concerns about Waterman’s contact with other women.
asserted
news → come → women
Mumby "expressed concerns of Daniel talking to other girls and said that she wasn’t going to let Daniel cheat on her," Stappenbeck testified.
asserted
Stappenbeck → express → her
The couple left before the game ended.
asserted
game → leave → ?
Within about 20 minutes, Stappenbeck said, Mumby called her, yelling that Waterman was texting another girl and that she planned to bring him back to the house.
asserted
she → say → house
"She’s yelling at me," Stappenbeck recalled.
asserted
Stappenbeck → yell → me
Stappenbeck said she did not hear Waterman speaking in the background.
asserted
Waterman → say → background
She tried to calm Mumby and urged the couple to get home safely and address their disagreement the following day.
asserted
She → try → disagreement
"She just said that ‘You’re taking his side,’ and hung up with me," Stappenbeck testified.
asserted
Stappenbeck → say → me
About 20 minutes later, Mumby called again, still angry, and repeated that she was bringing Waterman back, Stappenbeck said.
asserted
Stappenbeck → call → Waterman
They never arrived.
asserted
They → arrive → ?
Instead, Stappenbeck testified, Mumby’s roommate called and told her to go to the hospital because there had been a crash.
asserted
roommate → testify → hospital
The trial is unfolding without Waterman’s account to investigators of what happened inside the SUV.
asserted
what → unfold → SUV
Before his death, Waterman told detectives Mumby deliberately caused the wreck after an argument over a text from another woman, according to charging documents previously reported by Court TV.
uncertain
Mumby → tell → TV
He said the last thing he remembered was Mumby telling him, "I don’t care what happens, you’ll get what you deserve," before swerving off the road.
asserted
you → say → road
Judge Dawn Nichols ruled those statements could not be introduced at trial.
uncertain
statements → rule → trial
Prosecutors said they wanted jurors to hear Waterman’s account, but acknowledged the rules of evidence prevented them from using it at trial, Court TV previously reported.
asserted
TV → say → trial
"The court is bound by the law and the court is bound by the rules of evidence," Nichols said when explaining the ruling.
asserted
Nichols → bind → ruling
The first day of Mumby’s trial also brought an emotional moment for Waterman’s family.
asserted
day → bring → family
His mother, Heather Waterman, was seen wiping away tears as a photo of her son was shown in court.
asserted
photo → see → court
Court adjourned for the day following Tuesday’s proceedings.
asserted
Court → adjourn → proceedings
Mumby was initially arrested in July 2025 on charges of reckless driving causing serious bodily injury and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
asserted
Mumby → arrest → weapon
After Waterman died, prosecutors upgraded her charges to include vehicular homicide.
asserted
prosecutors → die → homicide
She was booked into the Flagler County Jail and released after posting a $150,000 bond.
asserted
She → book → bond
Waterman’s mother previously told Syracuse.com that he spent time in a coma before recovering enough to tell investigators what happened.
asserted
what → tell → investigators
Waterman’s aunt, Tiffany Waterman, expressed anguish over the exclusion of her nephew’s statements in a Facebook post Monday as jury selection began.
asserted
selection → express → post
She remembered his efforts to comfort a loved one watching a movie beside him in his hospital bed, smiling at her while trying to conceal his pain.
asserted
She → remember → pain
…and 15 more, not listed.
The Aporia
