Investigators say one boy was killed and another badly hurt after a driver struck them near a church and fled.
WINTER HAVEN, Fla. — A 30-year-old Winter Haven woman was charged Friday after investigators said she hit two boys with her SUV near a church, killing an 8-year-old and badly injuring a 10-year-old, then left the scene as deputies searched through the night for the driver.
Authorities say the arrest came less than 24 hours after the crash on Crystal Beach Road near Winter Lake Road, where the boys had been attending a function at Faith Baptist Church. The case quickly became a traffic homicide investigation with high stakes for one grieving family, another child still in the hospital, and prosecutors preparing to move the case into court. By Friday, detectives had seized a blue 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe, booked Victoria Johnson into jail and laid out a series of felony charges tied to the fatal collision and what deputies described as efforts to hide what happened.
The investigation began at 8:25 p.m. Wednesday, March 11, when 911 callers reported that two children had been run over by a vehicle heading north on Crystal Beach Road. Deputies said the boys had crossed to the west side of the road during the church event and were called back across the street. After waiting for a southbound truck to pass, they entered the roadway and were struck by a northbound vehicle. The younger boy died from his injuries. The 10-year-old survived but suffered a broken arm, a broken femur and a compound skull fracture. He was taken to Arnold Palmer Hospital, where officials said he was in critical but stable condition. The driver did not stop. Witnesses told deputies the vehicle looked like a dark, mid-sized SUV, giving investigators their first working description of the suspect vehicle.
Detectives said the early evidence at the scene pointed to a violent impact. Two small plastic pieces believed to be from the lower part of a vehicle were found in the roadway. Video from the area near the intersection captured the southbound truck and then another vehicle heading north. Investigators said the recording picked up sounds consistent with something being struck, and the same vehicle was later seen turning east onto Winter Lake Road. Deputies said that vehicle appeared to be a dark-colored SUV. On Thursday, the case shifted sharply when Johnson contacted the sheriff’s office to report that her dark blue Hyundai Santa Fe had been stolen. Deputies who went to speak with her did not find her at home, but located her near Spirit Lake and Thornhill roads. According to the sheriff’s office, Johnson first said her vehicle had been stolen, then said she had loaned it to someone who did not return it, and then admitted she had been driving the night before and thought she might have hit someone.
In an affidavit excerpt released by the sheriff’s office, investigators said Johnson told them she had been driving around the area of her home for about 20 minutes, though it could have been longer. Deputies said the route she described was consistent with the area of the crash, which they said was about 2.8 miles from her residence. Johnson also told detectives her license was suspended because of a DUI case and that she knew she was not supposed to be driving, according to the affidavit. Investigators said she also admitted using methamphetamine before getting behind the wheel. Johnson told detectives she later met Charles Cory Franklin Stewart at a Circle K on Spirit Lake Road, then went with him to a house where they used methamphetamine before he eventually took control of her vehicle. Deputies said Johnson told them she gave Stewart the SUV “to get rid of it” and believed it might be at the bottom of a lake.
The vehicle was not in a lake. While deputies were taking Johnson to a nearby substation for an interview, the Hyundai was spotted on State Road 60 in Lake Wales, investigators said. Deputies followed it to a residence at 4336 SR 60, where they said Stewart and a female passenger, Mya Bass, ran inside and refused orders to come out. Both were later taken into custody and charged with resisting arrest. A preliminary search of the Hyundai found damage, missing parts and what investigators described as possible biological material consistent with a pedestrian crash. Detectives obtained search warrants for the SUV and Johnson’s cellphone for more testing and review. Stewart later told investigators he met Johnson on the evening of March 11 at the Circle K about three miles from the crash scene and that she had been sitting in the driver’s seat of the Hyundai when he arrived, according to the sheriff’s office. That account, investigators said, undercut Johnson’s initial claim that the vehicle had been stolen before the crash.
Johnson was charged with leaving the scene of a crash involving death, leaving the scene of a crash involving serious bodily injury, tampering with evidence, driving without a license causing death, and giving false information to law enforcement. The sheriff’s office said she was scheduled for a first appearance hearing on March 13. Authorities also said her criminal history included a DUI arrest by Winter Haven police in November 2025. Court proceedings in the coming days are expected to address bond, formal notice of the charges and the preservation of evidence from the SUV and the cellphone. Investigators have not publicly identified the two boys, and they have not said whether more charges could follow after forensic testing is completed. They also have not said whether toxicology testing beyond Johnson’s statements was completed or pending.
What remains clearest is the setting of the crash and the speed of the case that followed. The boys had been at a church function on an ordinary Wednesday evening before the road outside became a crime scene. By the next day, deputies were tracing video, gathering witness accounts, tracking a missing SUV and interviewing multiple people tied to the vehicle. The sheriff’s office framed the arrest as the result of a rapid evidence trail, but the public facts still leave open questions about visibility, speed and the seconds before impact. For the families involved, the case has moved from emergency response to court process in two days. For investigators, the next steps are technical and procedural: lab work on the vehicle, review of phone data and preparation for prosecutors who will decide how to present the evidence as the case moves ahead.
A day after the crash, the case stood at the start of the court process, with one child dead, another still hospitalized and detectives waiting on more evidence from the SUV and cellphone. The next public milestone was Johnson’s first appearance hearing on Friday, March 13.
Author note: Last updated March 13, 2026.