TAMPA, Fla. — A woman accused of killing a beloved Tampa father in a hit-and-run crash on Tuesday turned herself in on Friday morning.
Police said 28-year-old Dameisha Ceasar has been arrested and charged with leaving the scene of a crash with death and driving without a valid driver's license.
Darrell Lawson, 57, was riding his bike Tuesday evening in the area of East 21st Avenue when he was hit and killed by a driver who took off. The Lawson family approved the release of the surveillance video of that moment on Wednesday in hopes that it would encourage anyone with information to come forward.
After the crash video was shared by local media outlets, officers said Ceasar's family members contacted detectives about her involvement in the crash.
The car Ceasar was driving during the crash was then recovered Thursday in Plant City, according to the police department. It was later determined that Ceasar had borrowed the 2023 blue Toyota Corolla to go to the store from a residence on Wilder Avenue when the crash happened.
Detectives also said Ceasar called family members later that night yelling that she had hit something.
After her arrest, police determined that Ceasar's driver's license was suspended in June 2013 with two subsequent suspensions in 2015.
"Our detectives worked tirelessly on this case to bring justice to Mr. Lawson's family, and we are thankful for their dedication to this investigation," Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw said in a statement. "We also thank our media partners for sharing this message and our community members for stepping forward to provide detectives with information that has now allowed for some closure for the Lawson family as they continue to navigate this tragedy."
Darrell Lawson is remembered by his family as a hard-working, generous and doting patriarch.
"You left him for dead, but if you ever knew Darrell you would have stopped and given aid. Because he wasn't the man who deserved this," Darrell's wife Valerie Lawson said.
Lawson lived a big, impactful life, that on Thursday evening was remembered through tears and song at a candlelight vigil.
10 Tampa Bay's Hannah Dineen contributed to this report.