Inset left: Donsia Kizer (Obituary). Inset right: Esperanza Villafana (Allen County Sheriff's Department). Background: A section of the 6700 block of Maysville Road in Fort Wayne, Indiana (Google Maps).
A woman in Indiana was intoxicated while driving a Ford F-150 truck before crashing into a man so hard his shoe went flying — and then returning to the scene to check on what she had done, authorities say.
Esperanza Villafana, 26, is charged with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death or catastrophic injury and obstruction of justice in connection with the death of 49-year-old Donsia Kizer, according to court records reviewed by Law&Crime.
Just before midnight on June 18, Villafana was driving a Ford F-150 in the area of the 6700 block of Maysville Road in Fort Wayne, the Fort Wayne Police Department said.
A "credible source" told authorities that they were with the defendant before the crash and that she had consumed alcohol and marijuana before leaving to deliver for DoorDash, regional ABC and NBC affiliate WPTA reported.
At some point, Villafana allegedly smashed into Kizer and then called that source and stated she had hit an animal.
Police reportedly arrived at the area to find the victim lying face up on the road with his eyes open, arms extended, and without his left shoe, which was later found about 90 feet away.
Also nearby was plastic headlight debris that appeared to be from a Ford F-150 model between the years of 2009 and 2014, police said.
Authorities determined Kizer died from blunt force trauma, and there were signs of his body being dragged.
Investigators said they saw surveillance footage of a red Ford F-150 turning in the area around the time of the crash, and license plate tracking paired the vehicle with one that belonged to a man who lived with Villafana.
The defendant apparently spoke more with the source, saying she had "seen him" when she went back to the crash site with a friend.
Investigators later caught up with Villafana. She allegedly admitted on that night, she heard a beeping noise and looked down when she felt something, believing she had struck a mailbox or a dog.
However, she later showed the source a news report about the crash, saying she had been finding it difficult to deal with the situation, according to WPTA. When a detective asked if the only reason she believed she had hit someone was because she saw it on the news, she nodded yes, authorities said.
The defendant also allegedly repeatedly checked police activity news after the crash to "see if it was a person" and changed the truck's appearance in case investigators were looking for it.
Villafana is being held in the Allen County Jail without bond. It is unclear when she is due next in court.