Lake Mary hit-and-run crash leaves one dead, driver arrested

A late-night crash at West Lake Mary Boulevard and Wheelhouse Lane left one person dead and sent Lake Mary police searching for a driver who fled the scene. Officers arrived around 11 p.m. Tuesday to find an unresponsive driver in the roadway, and life-saving efforts did not prevent the victim’s death at the scene.

Lake Mary police later located a vehicle and a suspect near West Lake Mary Boulevard and Forest Boulevard, a short distance from the crash site. Investigators identified the driver as O’Vante Olan Redding, a 22-year-old Longwood man, and placed him under arrest a short time after the collision.

Redding now faces DUI manslaughter, vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of a crash involving death. The charges turn the case from a deadly traffic wreck into a felony prosecution that will move through Seminole County’s court system, with the first appearance expected Thursday afternoon. Seminole County booking records show Redding was booked on July 1.

Police have not released the name of the person who died while detectives continue their work. The fatal crash also puts renewed attention on the West Lake Mary Boulevard corridor, where a nighttime collision can quickly become both a public-safety emergency and a criminal case when a driver leaves the scene and investigators have to track the vehicle down nearby.

The case now moves from the road to the courtroom, where prosecutors will decide how to prove the charges and whether more facts about the crash, the driver’s condition and the moments after impact will become public. For Lake Mary residents and anyone who drives the corridor after dark, the death at Wheelhouse Lane is a stark reminder of how fast a routine trip can turn deadly.