Pictured: (L) the crash scene (WUSA 9 screengrab), (C) Olvin Torres Velasquez (obituary), (R) Mohamed Kamara (WUSA 9 screengrab)
A Washington, D.C, woman with a history of DUIs who has also multiple civil negligence cases associated with her driving over the years is now charged with murdering a Lyft driver and two passengers.
U.S. Park Police (USPP) announced the arrest of 43-year-old Nakita Marie Walker on Monday, referring to the Washington, D.C., resident as the Lexus SUV driver “involved in the fatal March 15 crash on Rock Creek Parkway that killed three occupants in one of the involved cars,” a Honda Accord.
USPP spokesperson Sgt. Thomas Twiname told reporters that an officer attempted to make a traffic stop but Walker sped off and the officer didn’t pursue her further. Shortly after that, Twiname said, U.S. Park Police learned of the fatal crash.
“We have policies and procedures that guide our actions,” he said. “Our officers are required to abide by those policies and procedures, and in this instance, the officer determined that the vehicle that fled did not meet the criteria for a pursuit.”
Walker is charged with second-degree murder in the deaths of Lyft driver Mohamed Kamar, 42, and passengers Jonathan Cabrera Mendez, 23, and Olvin Torres Velasquez, 22, which occurred just before 2 a.m. on May 15. According to WUSA 9, both Kamara and Velasquez were immigrants working in the U.S. to provide for their families abroad.
Velasquez, a beloved employee at Super Pollo, was from Honduras. His death brought customers to tears, his aunt said. He was enjoying a night out with his friend Jonathan Cabrera Mendez after working a 14-hour shift. Both friends were living in Arlington, Va. Olvin had reportedly told co-workers that he was excited to watch Honduras play soccer. Mohamed Kamara, of Burtonsville, Md., picked up the two passengers later on and lost his life while working to make extra money with Lyft so he could visit his wife and young daughter in Sierra Leone.
Both Walker and a male passenger that was in her vehicle were reportedly injured in the crash and taken to a hospital.
In addition to driving the Lexus SUV associated with dozens of unpaid speeding tickets, totaling more than $12,000 in fines, Walker reportedly has three prior DUIs and was twice sued for vehicular torts.
D.C. Superior Court records reviewed by Law&Crime show that the defendant was sued in connection with 2016 and 2018 crashes that the left another driver and a pedestrian injured.
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The first lawsuit was filed in 2019 over a March 7, 2016 crash in D.C., an incident that was allegedly a “direct and proximate result” of Walker’s “negligent and careless” driving.
The plaintiff claimed that Walker caused a “thoracolumbar sprain/stain [sic] with radicular features, lumbosacral sprain/strain, [and] low back pain among other injuries” when she “failed to keep a proper lookout,” “failed to keep her vehicle under proper control,” drove at an “excessive and unsafe rate of speed,” “failed to pay full time and attention,” and “failed to yield right-of-way.”
The case was settled and dismissed and September 2019.
A separate civil lawsuit was filed in May 2021 in connection with a June 16, 2018 incident that left a female pedestrian with “severe personal injuries.” Walker was accused of negligently backing her vehicle into the pedestrian and fleeing the scene.
A settlement agreement was filed December 2021, court records say.
Now the victims’ families and other victims of similar incidents are demanding swift justice and change, to ensure that drivers like Walker are held accountable and prevented from getting behind the wheel again. The group DC Families for Safe Streets and many victims of “traffic violence” in the district are calling on lawmakers and the mayor to act.
“The senseless tragedy of March 15th is the predictable outcome of a system of governance with no mechanism to remove driving privileges from flagrantly reckless drivers or to impound vehicles that pose clear risks to life and welfare,” the letter said. “An extensive literature spanning many countries and years demonstrates unequivocally that number and magnitude of prior traffic offenses are highly predictive of the probability and severity of future traffic incidents.”
Mariam Kamara, Mohamed’s cousin, said that her loved one had complained about dangerous drivers in D.C. and didn’t like driving there because of it.
“It’s terrible. It’s terrible cause Mohamed don’t deserve that. Especially the kind of person that he is,” she told WUSA 9. “All of the victims deserve better.”
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