After a small child was killed by a hit-and-run driver this week, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said that the suspect had been arrested.
According to authorities, the driver, now identified as Victoria Johnson, 30, struck two small children outside a church on Wednesday night.
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According to the sheriff’s office, one of the children, an 8-year-old, died from his injuries. The other is ten years old and has been hospitalized for a fractured leg, arm, and skull fracture.
“The children, who are not siblings, were there for a church function…” said the deputy. “After a truck passed, the children began to make their way across the street toward the church, but they were both hit by a northbound vehicle.”
Deputies said the vehicle then drove off.
However, following a “around-the-clock investigation,” Johnson was identified as the driver and booked into the Polk County Jail on Thursday evening, Judd stated.
“The suspect vehicle — a 2009 blue Hyundai Santa Fe — was located and seized from a resident on SR 60 East in Lake Wales,” according to the news release. “The investigation is ongoing on how and why it ended up there.”
Johnson is now facing charges for fleeing the scene of a crash, tampering with evidence, making a fake police report, and driving with a suspended license.
According to deputies, her criminal history includes a DUI arrest from the Winter Haven Police Department in November 2025.
