A jury in Glades County has convicted Kimaini Jharon Holmes of leaving the scene of a 2024 crash that killed a 19-year-old pedestrian on U.S. 27, capping a nearly two-year case that began when the semi-truck driver fled the state after the collision. Holmes now faces a mandatory minimum of four years in prison, with a maximum sentence of up to 30 years, when he is sentenced on September 28.
According to Florida's 20th Judicial Circuit State Attorney's Office, Holmes was found guilty following a two-day jury trial prosecuted by Assistant State Attorneys Evan Chaput and Natalie Savino, the circuit's chief. Per the state attorney's office, Holmes drove away without stopping after hitting a pedestrian walking in the inside northbound lane of U.S. 27, an area near Boar Hammock Ranch Road in Glades County. As reported by Gulf Coast News and Weather, the victim, a 19-year-old man, died at the scene, and another driver called 911 to report the crash.
A Second Vehicle, A Very Different Response
Florida Highway Patrol troopers determined that Holmes was driving a 2022 Peterbilt semi-truck with trailer northbound on U.S. 27 near Boar Hammock Ranch Road around 3:22 a.m. on September 21, 2024, when he struck the pedestrian, per Lake Okeechobee News. A second vehicle then ran over the victim; that driver, a 42-year-old man from Lithia, stopped immediately and cooperated fully with investigators, the outlet reported. The victim was identified as a 19-year-old man from Wauchula.
Gulf Coast News and Weather reported that Holmes' semi-truck was found in Georgia days after the crash, consistent with troopers' account of a driver who crossed state lines rather than remain at the scene. The Florida Highway Patrol's Traffic Homicide Unit spent roughly two months investigating before identifying Holmes and arresting him on November 20, 2024, according to Southwest Florida Online News, which noted he was booked into the Glades County Jail. Jail records reviewed by Recently Booked show Holmes was booked back into the Glades County Detention Center on August 5, under charge code 316.027 for failing to stop and remain at a crash scene involving death.
Mandatory Prison Time Under the Aaron Cohen Act
Holmes' conviction falls under Florida's Aaron Cohen Life Protection Act, a 2014 law that made leaving the scene of a fatal crash a first-degree felony. Per the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, that charge carries a mandatory minimum of four years in prison and a maximum of up to 30 years, the range Holmes now faces at his September 28 sentencing.
The early-morning timing of the crash fits a documented statewide pattern. The department's data shows more than 80% of fatal hit-and-run crashes in Florida occur during dawn, dusk, or nighttime low-light conditions, matching the 3:22 a.m. timeframe of the U.S. 27 collision. Pedestrians and cyclists bear the brunt of these crashes statewide, accounting for 76% — 206 of 271 — of all hit-and-run fatalities recorded in Florida in 2023, according to the same agency.
A Pattern Playing Out Across Florida Roads
The scale of the problem extends well beyond Glades County. Statewide data compiled by Swope, Rodante P.A. shows Florida recorded 97,999 hit-and-run crashes and 242 fatalities in 2024, followed by 92,381 hit-and-run crashes and 180 fatalities in 2025 — with hit-and-run incidents making up nearly a quarter of all motor vehicle crashes in the state. The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and Florida Highway Patrol run an annual February campaign called Stay at the Scene aimed at educating drivers on their legal obligations and curbing an average of more than 90,000 annual hit-and-run incidents statewide.
Holmes' sentencing is set for September 28 in Glades County, where the mandatory minimum and statutory maximum under the Aaron Cohen Act will frame the proceedings. It remains unclear whether prosecutors will seek a sentence beyond the four-year mandatory minimum or how the defense may address the presence of the second vehicle that also struck the victim.
