LAKELAND, Fla. (WFLA) — A Lakeland woman has been arrested and charged after the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said she fled the scene of a fatal crash.

Last Monday, August 18, just before 4 a.m., deputies responded to reports of a woman lying in the middle of West Highland Street in Lakeland. They arrived to find a 27-year-old woman dead in the street with broken vehicle parts around her.

The broken parts included a fender liner with the part number included and a piece of a front bumper. Detectives were able to use the pieces to determine the car involved was a Kia Forte made between 2019 and 2022.

Surveillance camera from a gas station at the Wabash Ave and W Highland St intersection showed a black sedan traveling west on W Highland, coming from the direction of the crash. The sedan was seen turning right onto Wabash Ave before immediately making a U-turn and turning back onto W Highland St and continuing west.

After reviewing a list of matching vehicles registered in Polk County, detectives located a black Kia in the driveway of a house on W Highland St that was missing a piece of the driver’s side bumper and fender liner. The pieces missing from the vehicle were consistent with the broken parts recovered from the scene.

Detectives spoke with the home’s residents and determined 24-year-old Aliya Cruz was the owner and sole driver of the black Kia. Cruz told detectives she left her home at around 3:50 a.m. that morning to get to her 4 a.m. shift at the Publix warehouse, and took W Highland St, her usual route.

Cruz said as she was driving, a truck approached from the opposite direction with high beams on, which impaired her vision. The truck turned, and then she saw a woman lying in the road with her hands over her face. She told detectives that she swerved off the road and did not believe she hit the person, but wasn’t sure. Cruz said she turned right, made a U-turn and then continued west on W Highland St because she didn’t want to be late for work.

At the Publix warehouse, detectives confirmed Cruz’s arrival that morning and spoke with one of her supervisors, who said Cruz told him she “possibly killed someone.”

Cruz showed her supervisor photos of the damage to her car, and he told her she should have stopped and that she should call the police to report it.

PCSO said Cruz made other statements to her supervisor, like, “I don’t really want to say anything,” and “Well uhm, I know I didn’t hit them.”

Cruz was arrested on August 22 and has been charged with leaving the scene of a crash involving death, a first-degree felony.