New evidence released in Orange County hit-and-run

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Prosecutors said new evidence shows what an Orange County teenager did the day of a fatal hit-and-run.

Channel 9’s Tim Barber poured over discovery of an interview with 16-year-old Hank Woodward, the passenger who was in the suspect’s car the night of the crash.

Troopers said Jonathan Marsh, 17, suddenly stopped on Lake Underhill Road and backed into a stranded driver in July.

The passenger said he still has no idea why Marsh put the car in reverse, but he did explain what happened before and after they came to a screeching halt in the middle of the intersection.

New pictures show the crash that killed Bruce Kuiper. And the interview with the Woodward explains how it happened.

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“We were getting kind of close and I was, we got like two seconds away maybe and I was like ‘stop, stop, stop,’” said Woodward. “He started getting kind of fast going in reverse, going maybe like 15, 20 miles per hour in reverse.”

Investigators said Marsh was looking at the side-view mirror, but Woodward said he was looking out the back window, so he saw someone’s face right before the crash.

“Stopped for like, two seconds, freaking out, and just yelled out the window, ‘sorry,’” Woodward said.

He claims he did not know someone was killed until the next day.

That’s when he and Marsh began discussing an alibi.

“He was like, ‘All right, when you get home, you got to call me. We’re going to both get pen and paper, set it down, and write our stories out,’” said Woodward.

Instead, Woodward went to investigators.

He told them Marsh smoked pot in the morning and drank a few beers before the crash, but he still does not know why his friend put the car in reverse.

Marsh is facing 30 years in prison on charges of vehicular homicide and leaving the scene of a crash with death.

Barber contacted Marsh’s attorney, but has not heard back.

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