A 19-year-old Orlando man is facing DUI manslaughter and hit-and-run charges after Florida Highway Patrol troopers say he ran a red light early Sunday morning, slammed into another car on International Drive, and then left the scene on foot — leaving a 29-year-old Connecticut man dead and his girlfriend hospitalized with serious injuries.
Christopher Laureda was driving westbound on Central Florida Parkway around 2:46 a.m. when he ran a red light and struck the left side of a southbound Volkswagen Jetta on International Drive, according to WKMG. The impact was severe enough to flip Laureda's vehicle onto its left side, and as reported by WESH, the crash involved a 2004 Ford F-250 pickup colliding with a 2025 Volkswagen Jetta. Laureda then fled the wreck on foot, per state troopers, while his three passengers stayed behind at the scene and were treated for minor injuries.
Orange County deputies located and detained Laureda a short time later, and Florida Highway Patrol arrested him on charges of leaving the scene of a crash with death and DUI manslaughter. Law enforcement is continuing a criminal investigation into the crash.
Connecticut Couple Caught in the Wreck
The driver of the Jetta, a 29-year-old man from Connecticut, died at the hospital, according to Florida Highway Patrol. His passenger, a 23-year-old Connecticut woman, was hospitalized with serious injuries. Both were transported to Orlando Health Orlando Regional Medical Center, which operates Central Florida's only Level 1 Trauma Center for adult patients — a facility built to treat exactly the kind of life-threatening injuries a high-speed intersection crash can produce.
A Familiar Stretch of Road
The intersection of Central Florida Parkway and International Drive sits in the heart of Orlando's resort corridor, a multi-lane thoroughfare that sees heavy overnight traffic from tourists and nightlife venues alike. Orange County Public Works is currently widening International Drive from four to six divided lanes near that intersection, part of a project meant to ease congestion and improve safety with modified signals and raised medians, according to Orange County Government.
This is not the first fatal hit-and-run to strike that stretch of road. In a case Hoodline previously covered, a 58-year-old driver was sentenced to three years in prison in June after entering a no-contest plea for a September 2024 hit-and-run crash on International Drive at Parc Corniche Drive that killed a 15-year-old cyclist — a sentence that sparked public debate over judicial discretion and mandatory minimums.
What Laureda Could Face
Under Florida Statute § 316.027, known as the Aaron Cohen Life Protection Act, leaving the scene of a crash that results in a fatality is a first-degree felony carrying a mandatory minimum of four years in prison and a maximum of 30 years, according to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. The law was created specifically to remove any legal incentive for impaired drivers to flee a crash scene.
DUI manslaughter itself is a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison with a four-year mandatory minimum, but that charge escalates to a first-degree felony carrying up to 30 years if the driver fails to stay and render aid, per Meltzer & Bell, P.A. Prosecutors would still need to prove impairment beyond a reasonable doubt.
A Statewide Pattern, With Some Progress
Florida recorded 92,381 hit-and-run collisions in 2025, resulting in 180 fatalities and 238,440 total crash injuries statewide, according to Swope, Rodante P.A. Hit-and-run fatalities actually fell 25.6% year-over-year, dropping from 242 deaths in 2024 to 180 in 2025, even as the state's overall crash total stayed above 360,000. Locally, Orange County logged 25,270 total motor vehicle collisions in 2025, with 18,967 injuries and 168 traffic fatalities across county roadways, per Hoodline's own reporting.
The crash comes just days after Hoodline reported on a separate incident along the same corridor, in which a chase suspect reportedly hit 115 mph and drove the wrong way near SeaWorld. Florida Highway Patrol revised its emergency pursuit guidelines in December 2023 to give troopers broader discretion to end high-risk incidents quickly, including through PIT maneuvers, on crowded corridors like International Drive.
Key details remain unresolved, including toxicology results that could confirm Laureda's level of impairment, his formal arraignment date in Orange County, and the current medical condition of the hospitalized 23-year-old passenger.
