03/01/2026
The crash that left Daniel Waterman paralyzed for months began with a text message and ended with a deliberate, deadly act on a Florida highway.
On February 9, 2025, 22-year-old Daniel Waterman was riding in a car driven by his girlfriend, 24-year-old Leigha Mumby, as they traveled along Interstate 95 in Flagler County. Earlier that day, Mumby had discovered she was pregnant. Tension rose sharply during the drive when Waterman received a message from a female friend in New York. According to investigators, the argument escalated so quickly that Waterman tried to get out of the moving vehicle.
An affidavit states that Mumby slowed to roughly 50 miles per hour as Waterman reached for the door, then suddenly accelerated to an estimated 80 to 90 miles per hour and steered straight off the roadway. There were no skid marks, no signs she attempted to brake. Waterman later told detectives — communicating through a letter board — that she had warned him moments before impact, “I don’t care what happens. You’ll get what you deserve.”
The crash left him with devastating injuries: a fractured cervical spine, a broken femur, a dislocated hip, severe lung trauma, and multiple other internal injuries. He slipped into a long coma, and when he eventually regained brief periods of awareness, he confirmed to authorities that the crash had been intentional.
Waterman fought for his life for eight months but di*d on October 8, 2025, from pneumonia linked to his injuries.
With his d*ath, prosecutors upgraded the charges against Mumby to vehicular homicide, adding to earlier counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and reckless driving causing serious bodily harm.