A successful businesswoman was killed after a police cruiser crashed into her Audi SQ5, while the Missouri department involved has declined to release key details about the fatal collision.

Misty Leslie, 48, died on October 11 from injuries sustained in an early-morning crash in Independence, a suburb of Kansas City, police said.

Leslie was driving through an intersection at about 1:15am when a police SUV driven by Officer Arnold Matthew struck the passenger side of her 2022 Audi SQ5.

According to preliminary information released by police, Leslie, a much-loved single mother, allegedly ran a red light while Officer Arnold was responding to an emergency call.

Independence police have not disclosed the speeds of either vehicle. The department said, however, that Officer Arnold’s emergency lights and siren were operating when the crash occurred.

Leslie was transported to a nearby hospital, where she later died from her injuries, police said.

Officer Arnold was also hospitalized with injuries described as non-life-threatening. His current condition has not been made public.

The department has not said whether the officer was placed on leave or remains at work. A spokesperson told the Kansas City Star that his current employment status is “not an open record.”

The Independence Police Department has faced renewed scrutiny over its record of deadly officer-involved traffic crashes, the newspaper reported.

Earlier this year, the department revised its policy on high-speed police pursuits in an attempt to reduce the number of crashes.

Under the updated rules, officers may not initiate pursuits over minor traffic offenses or violations of city ordinances.

The crash remains under investigation. The Daily Mail has contacted Independence police seeking additional information, while Leslie’s family has declined to comment.

Leslie is survived by her 21-year-old daughter, Emarea, whom she loved “deeply, fiercely, and completely,” according to her obituary.

She managed retail stores and operated her own photography business, but her loved ones said her “greatest role was being a mother.”

“Of all the titles Misty held throughout her life, being Emarea’s mom was the one that mattered most,” the tribute said. “The strength, determination, and love Misty carried will live on through her daughter.”

Leslie regularly visited Emarea at university and had recently attended her daughter’s 21st birthday celebration.

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Four days after the fatal crash, the college student posted a photograph on Facebook showing her with her mother at the party. “So happy I got to spend my 21st with you,” she wrote in the caption.

A family friend responding to Emarea’s tribute said Leslie had been planning the milestone birthday celebration since at least August.

‘You were her world and every milestone she was celebrating YOU!’ the friend wrote. 

Leslie’s best friend, Christel Meinhold, penned a heartbreaking tribute earlier this week in which she praised the businesswoman’s dedication to motherhood.

‘We were two strong, independent single moms who could handle anything, except, occasionally, our own lives,’ Meinhold said.

‘Our friendship was built on love, laughter, honesty, and reminding each other when we were being ridiculous.’ 

Leslie had many passions, including softball, baking, photography, cheering on the Kansas City Chiefs and caring for her dogs and hairless cat. 

Her family said that her business, Everything But Weddings (EBW) Photography, allowed Leslie to combine two of her favorite things – ‘people and capturing the moments that matter.’

‘Through her camera, she preserved celebrations, milestones, smiles, and memories for others,’ her loved ones wrote.

Leslie brought that same passion to her career in retail, which saw her serving as a District Manager with Signet Jewelers.

She was an ‘overachiever’ and always determined to succeed, the tribute said. She cared deeply about her job and brought ‘drive, high expectations, competitive spirit, and determination’ to the workplace.

Leslie was also a baptized Christian whose ‘faith was strong and personal.’ She demonstrated ‘God’s love and grace through the way she treated people.’

Despite the heartbreak, Leslie’s family says they have found comfort in knowing that her ‘last breath here became her first breath in Heaven, a place without pain or sickness and with everlasting peace.’

The entrepreneur’s loved ones added that their ‘lives are better because Misty was part of them.’

A beloved Pennsylvania pediatrician allegedly told her mother she felt “drugged” in the weeks before her estranged husband is accused of strangling her and setting their home on fire, according to a search warrant.

Dr. Julia Pederson, 41, of Harrisburg, reportedly messaged her mother about feeling groggy and struggling to walk roughly one month before her death, according to a warrant cited by PennLive.com. Her estranged husband, Jonathan Gatto, is accused of setting their home ablaze on Oct. 10 while their 7-year-old daughter was asleep inside.

Pederson also told her mother she had canceled five patient appointments so she could rest, the outlet reported.

She was scheduled to undergo bloodwork on Oct. 10—the day she died—to investigate the unusual symptoms, according to the warrant.

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Investigators were also told by one of Pederson’s co-workers that the doctor’s daughter regularly brought drinks to her mother at work, the warrant said.

Pederson reportedly told the colleague she did not want the drinks, but said her husband would allegedly make their daughter deliver them.

Gatto was charged with Pederson’s murder last week.

WAUKEGAN, Ill. (WLS) — A Waukegan woman is asking a judge to dismiss criminal charges against her.

Tafara Williams was shot by a police officer in 2020, while her fiancé, Marcellis Stinnette, was killed.

The officer who fired the shots has since been charged with second-degree murder.

Williams’ attorney said the defense recently learned that another officer had lied in a police report connected to the incident in which Stinnette was shot and killed.

Court records state that Williams and Stinnette were sitting in a parked car in a Waukegan park when Officer James Keating approached them.

Williams eventually began driving away. Keating said the car struck him, prompting a second officer, Dante Salinas, to fire five shots into the vehicle. Williams was wounded, and Stinnette was killed.

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Williams was arrested and charged with a felony for fleeing the scene. Salinas was charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter and was later fired by the police department.

On Thursday, Williams’ attorney said the defense recently learned that Keating’s 2022 termination from the Waukegan Police Department involved the discovery that he had repeatedly lied in police reports, including the report in Williams’ case.

Her attorney said the revelation strengthens the defense’s claim that Williams and Stinnette were subjected to racial discrimination. He also argued that Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart should never have filed the charges.

“What we’re saying in the motion to dismiss is that this case began with a grand jury proceeding, and when it began with the grand jury proceeding, somebody besides Officer Keating testified before the grand jury, completely whitewashing this case, ignoring the fact that the chief of police had said the underlying documents, the underlying police report, had false representations, and none of that was presented to the grand jury,” Williams’ attorney, Blake Horowitz, said.

Williams did not speak Thursday, but her attorney said she has shown courage while working to move forward and raise her young children.

A Massachusetts judge ruled Wednesday that the lone juror who favored convicting Lindsay Clancy of murdering her three children will not have his cellphone examined or be subject to an inquiry by Clancy’s defense team.

Judge William Sullivan rejected a motion from Clancy’s attorney, Kevin Reddington, seeking an evidentiary hearing.

Sullivan said the potential evidence supporting the juror’s dismissal—identified in court filings as Juror Doe and understood to be Michael Desronvil—surfaced only after the mistrial had been declared. Under legal precedent, he wrote, that timing makes the information irrelevant.

The defense did not argue before the mistrial that Juror Doe had lied on his questionnaire, Sullivan wrote. The allegation first emerged in media reports.

“Because post-trial information potentially affecting Juror Doe’s impartiality cannot be used to challenge the finding that a mistrial was manifestly necessary, Clancy is not entitled to an evidentiary hearing on that issue,” Sullivan ruled. He also noted that Reddington did not raise the allegation that Juror Doe improperly used a cellphone until after the mistrial.

Sullivan said any additional investigation into the holdout juror would be improper because courts cannot examine a juror’s private reasoning, thought process, view of the case or relationships with fellow jurors. The court also may not inquire into the jury’s deliberations, collective reasoning or disagreements, he wrote.

In an interview with Fox News’ Kayleigh McEnany last week, Desronvil said he stands by his decision not to agree with the other 11 jurors, who wanted Clancy to be found not criminally responsible because of postpartum psychosis.

Desronvil has referred to the children as “The Three Angels.” They were Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months.

He has also denied lying under oath on his juror questionnaire. Desronvil said the jurors used their cellphones only during breaks, not while deliberating, and rejected claims by other jurors that he disregarded reasonable doubts in the case.

Reddington has asked the court to preserve records from all 12 jurors and six alternates. The requested materials include juror questionnaires, surveillance footage from the courthouse hallway outside the deliberation room and cellphone sign-in sheets.

However, he specifically sought an examination of Desronvil’s phone for activity between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on each day of deliberations.

“Everybody had their cellphones and our cellphone was used when we had a break,” the holdout juror said. “So not during deliberation.”

Clancy is scheduled to return to court Nov. 2.