Staff report

HAWTHORNE, Fla. – Yosvani Fernandez, 44, of Lehigh Acres, Fla., has been charged with vehicular homicide while driving under the influence and leaving the scene of a fatal crash after an investigation into the death of a woman who was walking on the shoulder of U.S. Hwy 301 in Hawthorne in January 2022.

At about 5:55 p.m. on January 3, 2022, Fernandez was driving a semi truck northbound on U.S. Hwy 301, just north of NE 77th Lane, when he allegedly swerved onto the grass shoulder and hit 49-year-old Donna Lassiter, who was walking on the east shoulder of U.S. Hwy 301. Fernandez allegedly steered his truck back onto the roadway and continued driving, failing to stop or render aid to the victim. Lassiter was pronounced deceased about half an hour later at UF Health Shands.

According to a Florida Highway Patrol report, a witness followed the truck for several miles, trying to get the driver to stop. The witness reportedly said the truck was traveling at about 75 miles per hour in a 55 mph zone, passing other trucks.

Other witnesses reportedly said the truck drifted off the roadway and hit a pedestrian, then swerved back onto the roadway without braking; when Fernandez returned to the scene of the crash, he reportedly said, “Oh, what, she has a broken ankle?” and witnesses said he seemed “fatigued.”

One of Lassiter’s shoes was found in the outside travel lane of the roadway, and the other was reportedly found entangled under Fernandez’s truck’s trailer.

Fernandez reportedly consented to a blood draw at the scene of the crash; his blood reportedly tested positive for amphetamine and methamphetamine. A doctor at the UF Forensic Toxicology Laboratory stated that, in his professional opinion, “the toxicology results are consistent with the recent use of methamphetamine (with the metabolite amphetamine). The witnessed driving pattern and behavior post-crash are consistent with impairment (a downside of a CNS stimulant).”

Post Miranda, Fernandez reportedly stated that he was driving the truck at the time of the crash.

Fernandez has one felony conviction and one misdemeanor conviction; he has two pending felony cases in Miami-Dade County. Judge Kristine Van Vorst set bail at $100,000 on the hit and run charge and ordered him held without bail on the vehicular homicide charge pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s office to hold him without bail until trial.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.