A suspected drunk driver struck and killed a woman in Florida — and then callously told police the victim was “just a homeless person,” according to police.
Ivana Gomez, 32, was speeding her BMW through Miami in late May when she struck 41-year-old Kathryn Kipnis so hard that Kipnis’ head burst through the windshield and some of her hair got stuck, officials said.
Kipnis — who was not homeless — died after being dragged for more than 230 feet before being “violently thrown off” the vehicle, according to an arrest document obtained by CBS News.
A police officer who witnessed the horrific crash had to drive at over 100 mph to keep up with Gomez as she sped off, only catching up when she got stuck at a red light, cops said.
Police noted that Gomez smelled like alcohol, had red, watery eyes and there was fresh vomit in her car, WSVN reported. She struggled with a field sobriety test and demanded a lawyer, the docs said.
Even so, as she was being placed in the back of the police cruiser, Gomez “spontaneously stated that it was just a homeless person that I hit and it is just an accident,” according to the police report.
Bodycam footage released this week shows Gomez in cuffs and without shoes moments after her arrest on DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide charges.
However, it does not capture her dismissing the victim as “just a homeless person” — which Gomez denied ever saying when it was raised at her initial court hearing in May, WSVN reported.
“Your Honor, I never said that. I did not say that whatsoever. That’s false,” she told the judge.
Kipnis was, in fact, not homeless. She lived in the area and was on her way home after a night out with friends, her father told NBC6.
Authorities showed graphic images at the hearing showing the mangled BMW and a head-shaped hole gaping in the windshield.
Gomez “hit the victim so hard that the victim’s head went into the vehicle, through the windshield, and some of the victim’s hair got caught on the passenger’s seat belt,” said prosecutor Laura Adams at the May hearing.
Nearly five hours after the crash, Gomez’s blood alcohol level was .112 — above the legal limit of .08.
Gomez is facing DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide charges and remains locked up on a $251,000 bond.
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