An Orange County teenager and alleged gang member pleaded not guilty Wednesday to purposely running over and killing another teen, with whom investigators say he had a violent history.
Elijah Emmans, 17, is accused of intentionally striking 16-year-old Mikhail Cuba on Nov. 20 with his car as the younger boy rode his motorized bicycle near the intersection of Orange Blossom Trail and Wakulla Way.
Mikhail’s obituary said he died four days after he was struck. He loved riding bikes, it said, and was “always willing to go the extra mile for his family and friends.”
Elijah was arrested March 6 and prosecutors decided April 7 to charge him as an adult, court records show. He now faces a charge of second-degree murder.
Before his death, Mikhail had told sheriff’s deputies that he had been jumped in September by eight gun-wielding individuals, including Elijah, at the YMCA basketball courts near Oak Ridge High School. The eight assailants got out of two cars, including a gray Nissan Altima. The affidavit did not say what prompted that attack.
Elijah’s arrest affidavit identifies at least some of the eight as members of the gang KKKreep. Investigators say Elijah, a student at Oak Ridge High, is a member of that gang, too.
Mikhail’s mother, after learning a gray Nissan fled the scene of her son’s death, told Orange County Sheriff’s Office deputies she believed his death may have been intentional and that KKKreep could have been involved, the affidavit said.
Florida Highway Patrol obtained video of the crime scene. It shows Mikhail on his red bicycle being pursued by a silver Nissan, the document said. Both the bike and the car run a stop sign on Wakulla Way and then at about 9:15 p.m. the Nissan swerves to the right to strike the bicycle, it added.
Investigators identified the vehicle as a gray Nissan Altima registered to Elijah’s grandmother. It had significant damage to its front passenger-side bumper when FHP investigators found it. There also appeared to be red paint on the car’s right front fender consistent with the paint on Mikhail’s bike, the affidavit said.
The grandmother’s husband told investigators that Elijah bought the car and that he didn’t think anyone else drove it. He said the teen told him the damage was caused by a truck driver who hit him in a garage and that this unknown driver was not licensed and did not want to stay for law enforcement, the affidavit said.
Police also obtained surveillance footage showing Elijah getting into the driver’s seat of the Nissan at Oak Ridge High just 13 minutes before the hit-and-run. Three others were in the car with him, the affidavit said.
One of the three told investigators that Elijah was the only driver that night and that he hit a “bump.” Another, an alleged member of KKKreep, said Elijah was driving and struck the other teen but the plan was only to “jump” Mikhail. That passenger said he told Elijah not to run Mikhail over, according to the affidavit.
Elijah is currently in custody at the Orange County Jail, records show.