MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — A Miami man has been arrested months after an 18-year-old woman was killed in a high-speed crash involving a motorcycle that was fleeing deputies, according to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office.
Jail records show deputies on Wednesday arrested 24-year-old Ivan Lealayola on a charge of vehicular homicide.
On Thursday, a bond court judge said Lealayola “should have never been driving a motorcycle,” noting he lacked a motorcycle endorsement and had previously been arrested in Hillsborough County for driving without a license.
The judge also placed him on a no-drive order and ordered him to surrender his passport and travel documents.
The charge stems from a Sept. 14 crash that deputies said claimed the life of Angelina Plasencia.
According to an arrest report, a Doral police officer spotted a 2023 Yamaha MT03 motorcycle on Northwest 58th Street around 8:15 a.m.
Deputies said the bike matched the description of a vehicle wanted in connection with a nearby hit-and-run. Officers in marked patrol vehicles, with emergency lights activated, attempted to stop the motorcycle.
They said Lealayola, who had three passengers on the motorcycle, including Plasencia, sped away.
Lealayola’s arrest report stated that he ran a red light at Northwest 58th Street and Northwest 72nd Avenue and crashed into a 2020 Buick Encore that had a green light.
The impact threw all four riders from the motorcycle; Plasencia was launched into a canal and died from her injuries, according to the report.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue responded and transported Lealayola and two female passengers to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center with life-threatening injuries.
According to MDSO, Plasencia was initially reported missing the night before her body was found.
Deputies responded to the crash scene around 11:30 p.m. on Sept. 14 but found no sign of her. Detectives said they returned the next morning and discovered her body floating in a canal.
Lealayola appeared in bond court Thursday morning, where a judge found probable cause for the vehicular homicide in a reckless manner charge. He is being held on a $15,000 bond at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
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