Left inset: Leigha Mumby (Flagler County Sheriff's Office). Right inset: Daniel Waterman (GoFundMe). Background: Daniel Waterman in the hospital after Leigha Mumby caused a car crash in Florida that left him critically injured (GoFundMe).
A Florida woman who prosecutors say intentionally crashed her car "out of anger" while speeding down an interstate with her boyfriend — leaving him in a coma with injuries that later proved fatal — has been found guilty of killing the 22-year-old. It took jurors just 71 minutes to convict her.
"She was driving the car that night at extreme speeds and aggressively," said Assistant State Attorney Melissa Clark during closing arguments Wednesday before Leigha Mumby, 25, was found guilty of reckless driving causing serious bodily injury and vehicular homicide for the death of Daniel Waterman. The trial was streamed by Law&Crime's sister network, Court TV.
"She's irate with Daniel," Clark explained. "She had just found out that very morning that she was pregnant with his child and then learns that he's been texting with another woman. And she's furious. She's so furious, she calls her best friend to vent about it, screaming about Daniel texting with another woman. And when her best friend doesn't react the way she likes, she abruptly hangs up. That was Leigha Mumby's demeanor at the time of the crash, and her driving pattern is consistent with that."
The February 2025 crash happened along Interstate 95 in Flagler County. Waterman woke up from his coma on May 15, a little over three months later, and told police that Mumby "intentionally" crashed her 2019 Honda Passport. He sustained a "C6-7 fracture, cervical spine injury, clavicle fracture, femur fracture, hip dislocation, epidural hematoma, pneumothorax with pulmonary contusion, zygomatic and temporal contusion, [and a] talus fracture," according to the criminal complaint.
"I don't care what happens, you'll get what you deserve," Mumby, who was Waterman's girlfriend at the time, told Waterman before swerving off the road and "colliding with a tree, making Daniel incapacitated," according to the complaint.
Waterman was unable to talk after he woke up from his coma, so police reportedly pointed to letters on a board and asked him to make sounds to indicate which ones to spell out, according to his mom, who spoke to Syracuse.com. On Oct. 8, Waterman died after developing pneumonia.
"He never gave up," his mother said. "This whole entire time, he literally never gave up."
Mumby was reportedly charged after Waterman woke up and told police what happened. "In his interview, Daniel stated that he and Leigha were in an argument due to personal issues with Leigha finding out she was pregnant that day and a text message Daniel received from a female friend in New York," the investigator who interviewed Waterman explained in the complaint.
"Daniel and Leigha exchanged expletives," the investigator wrote. "Daniel stated, Leigha began driving recklessly."
According to Waterman, Mumby slowed down her Honda Passport to 50 mph and he tried to get out of the car before she sped up to 80 to 90 mph, according to the complaint. Waterman said the "last thing he remembers before the crash" was Mumby allegedly telling him she didn't care what happened and that he was getting what he deserved.
Prosecutors said during Mumby's trial this week that she hit speeds over 100 mph before crashing.
A cousin of Waterman's told FlaglerLive.com in October 2025 that Mumby texted her from Waterman's phone just minutes before the crash, saying, "This is what he gets for being a liar and a cheater." The cousin, Jessica Stappenbeck, recalled speaking to Waterman earlier in the day about the pregnancy.
"During the day, he did say, he didn't know what he was going to do, and he didn't like how Leigha was handling the situation," Stappenbeck told FlaglerLive. She said the couple had plans to watch the Super Bowl at Stappenbeck's house that day. They reportedly left before the end of the game and got onto I-95 heading south before turning around at Palm Coast Parkway and traveling north, according to police.
"Leigha made these statements and immediately swerved off the road to crash her car," the complaint says.
Waterman's family later claimed that his dying wish was for them to get custody of the couple's baby girl. "We'll do whatever we can do to bring her to us," his mother told Syracuse.com. "He wanted her raised in New York with his family."
The custody status of the child was unknown Wednesday.
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