Six months after a white BMW hit Jahmaar Williams and drove off while his brother watched, leaving him in a coma, police have arrested a suspect.
Tremaine Maurice Herbert, 31, of Miami Gardens, now faces charges of leaving the scene of a crash, tampering with physical evidence and driving with a suspended license.
For Williams’ mother, Eleska Moore, the arrest is “bittersweet.”
“It doesn’t change my son right now,” Moore told the South Florida ֱ on Friday night. “It’s not changing his health right now.”
Williams is still unable to speak or walk, she said, and requires 24/7 medical attention.
The hit-and-run occurred after a Saturday night out in March. Williams, also 31, had gone to the Ultra Lounge in Miramar with his brother, Chris. The two were heading home about 2 a.m., crossing the 6500 block of Pembroke Road toward the parking lot, when the BMW struck Williams and drove off.
Herbert had been driving the car after a date with his girlfriend, according to the probable cause affidavit. She told them that he had debated his options and decided to leave the scene because his license was suspended.
Williams was rushed to the hospital, according to the affidavit, and remained there, in a coma, as of July, when the affidavit was written.
He had served in the Florida National Guard for 12 years, his family said, and has a 4-year-old son.
Detectives located the BMW at a home days later, covered by blue nylon tarp and missing parts with traces of blood spatter on it. The owner of the car appeared to have attempted to clean it, according to the affidavit. Detectives found pieces of shattered class in a vacuum cleaner inside of the car, along with cleaning spray.
A resident at the home where the BMW was parked told police that the car was her son’s, and that he was the only person who drove it.
Detectives then spoke to Herbert’s girlfriend, who told them that she had asked him not to drive that night because his license was suspended. Still, she drove him back to his BMW that night, watching him drive away, then brake on Pembroke Road. When she called him to ask what happened, he told her that he had hit someone.
Police later used cellular tracking and surveillance video to capture footage of Herbert minutes after the crash, inspecting the damage to his car.
Herbert has three previous convictions for driving with a suspended license, according to the affidavit, and was being held in Broward Main Jail as of Friday afternoon.
Moore continues to pray that her son will recover. Doctors had previously told her that he wouldn’t wake up from his coma, and he did, she said.
Taking care of him is like having a newborn again, she said. The hit-and-run didn’t just take away her son’s life as he knew it, but it took away hers, too, forcing her into the role of permanent caregiver.
“It’s kind of like you want to be excited, but you can’t,” she said of the arrest. “I’m grateful that something is better than nothing.”
