{"id":207569,"date":"2026-03-26T23:00:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T23:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/207569\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T23:00:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T23:00:10","slug":"authorities-announce-arrest-of-driver-involved-in-fatal-hit-and-run-crash-in-west-park-wsvn-7news-miami-news-weather-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/207569\/","title":{"rendered":"Authorities announce arrest of driver involved in fatal hit-and-run crash in West Park – WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"

FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) – Authorities have announced they\u2019ve made an arrest in connection to a fatal hit-and-run crash that claimed the life of a woman<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, investigators said they\u2019ve identified the driver of the car that struck Mishell Warner and left the scene as 66-year-old Karen Essick.<\/p>\n

Personal items belonging to Warner were left scattered across the roadway along Barry Road and West Hallandale Beach Boulevard after she was fatally struck by a car early Monday morning.<\/p>\n

A friend of Warner\u2019s told 7News she worked as a nurse and was on her way to visit her ailing mother at the time of the crash.<\/p>\n

Moments after the crash, Warner was quickly rushed to a hospital, but would later succumb to her injuries.<\/p>\n

\u201cParamedics transported her to a nearby hospital where, sadly, she died,\u201d said Broward Sheriff\u2019s Office spokesperson Carey Codd.<\/p>\n

Officials say Essick, a resident from Miramar, was driving a maroon Toyota Corolla, which they managed to spot in surveillance footage that showed her briefly stopping after the crash.<\/p>\n

\u201cStopping the vehicle, briefly exiting the vehicle, getting back in the vehicle, driving back to the crash scene and then eventually fleeing the scene altogether,\u201d said Codd.<\/p>\n

Investigators managed to identify her after tracking down that Corolla to a repair shop in West Park, where they determined that the damage to the vehicle matched the damage caused in the hit-and-run and the car parts that were left at the scene.<\/p>\n

According to the arrest report, \u201cthe owner of the business also advised that [Essick] paid in advance to have the vehicle fixed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Essick reportedly confessed to detectives after they contacted her, according to BSO.<\/p>\n

Jennifer Reis, one of Warner\u2019s coworkers, told 7News during a phone interview she was stunned at the heartlessness of the driver\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can you not stop to help someone that you just hit?\u201d said Reis. \u201cYou need to stop and help that person.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reis went on the describe Warner as a caring, loving nurse who did not deserve what happened to her.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe took care of her patients and healed them. She was really responsible and, ironically, that no one stopped to help her,\u201d said Reis.<\/p>\n

As for Essick, she remains behind bars at the Broward County jail facing charges for failing to stop for an accident involving death and tampering with evidence.<\/p>\n

She currently has no bond set.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.<\/p>\n

\tJoin our Newsletter for the latest news right to your inbox<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) – Authorities have announced they\u2019ve made an arrest in connection to a fatal hit-and-run…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":207570,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[249,251,250],"class_list":["post-207569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale","tag-fort-lauderdale-headlines","tag-fort-lauderdale-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207569\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}