ORLANDO, Fla. — A man was arrested Wednesday evening in connection with a crash that happened after his girlfriend jumped out of her vehicle on Interstate 4 during an argument in late January, the Orlando Police Department said.
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Police said several people called 911 at about 11:30 p.m. Jan. 26 to report that several drivers had struck a body in the eastbound lanes of I-4 near the South Orange Blossom Trail exit.
Investigators said they discovered the body of Tequilla L. Shepherd, 39, on the interstate and an abandoned, crashed vehicle on the off-ramp to South Orange Blossom Trail.
Detectives determined that Shepherd was riding as a passenger in her vehicle, which was being driven by her boyfriend, Albert Berry Ayala, 33, when it crashed on the off-ramp.
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Orange County deputies found Ayala on Wednesday evening and arrested him for an unrelated incident.
He was then taken to OPD Headquarters, where he confessed to picking up Shepherd from her workplace and getting into an argument with her.
“The argument was escalating when Shepherd spontaneously jumped from the vehicle while traveling on I-4,” a police spokesman said. “This was confirmed by a witness driving in the same direction behind the suspect vehicle.”
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Police said Ayala tried to exit the interstate to turn around to get to Shepherd, but he lost control of the vehicle on the off-ramp, causing it to crash. They said he then fled the scene.
Ayala has been booked into the Orange County Jail on charges of leaving the scene of a crash with a death, leaving the scene of a crash with property damage and driving with a suspended license.
Watch Channel 9 Eyewitness News at 4 for updates.
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