Driver in Arcadia crash at day care to be held without bond, awaiting transfer to DeSoto

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Kiara Morant will be held without bond and will be transferred to DeSoto County to face charges after being involved in a crash that killed one child and injured another.

The woman accused of crashing into an Arcadia day care’s playground and killing 4-year-old Maleena Valdez and injuring another child will be held without bond in Lee County Jail pending a transfer to DeSoto County.

Kiara Morant, 18, is facing two counts of driving without a valid license and causing serious bodily injury or death.

Morant appeared with her left arm in her sling. The vehicle she was in traveled over a raised concrete curb, collided with a street sign, a chain-link fence, a metal post, a number of wooden support posts and playground equipment before coming to a complete stop.

Judge Margaret Steinbeck said DeSoto County has three business days to retrieve Morant.

Kiara Morant. Credit: Lee County Sheriff’s Office

Morant told Steinbeck she has hired a private attorney.

The crash occurred on Wednesday afternoon on State Road 70. Troopers say Morant was driving when her vehicle traveled off the roadway and into the playground at the Imagination Station Learning Center. Maleena was taken to the hospital where she died. A second child, 5, was seriously injured.

4-year-old car crash victim Maleena Valdez. Courtesy of her family.

Morant was initially arrested and released on a $120 bond. After Maleena died, a warrant was issued for her arrest. She turned herself into Fort Myers police early Friday morning.

Morant told troopers she was driving the vehicle and had never had a driver’s license.

The Arcadia community gathered Friday evening to pay respect to Maleena and the other child injured in the crash.

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