Police said the suspect was driving recklessly without headlights before striking two visitors in North Beach and fleeing into a nearby Walgreens.
MIAMI BEACH, FL — A 42-year-old Lakeland man was arrested after police said he drove recklessly through North Beach on Wednesday night, struck two pedestrians crossing Collins Avenue and fled on foot, leaving both victims fatally injured after a crash just after 9 p.m.
Authorities identified the suspect as Adan Negron-Morris and said he now faces two counts of vehicular homicide and two counts of leaving the scene of a crash involving death. Miami Beach police said the case quickly grew from a reckless-driving call into a double-fatal investigation when officers learned the same driver may also have been involved in another hit-and-run moments earlier. The deaths of the two visitors, both tied to Indiana University, have added to the shock around a busy North Beach corridor that draws residents, workers and tourists well into the evening.
Police said the chain of events began shortly after 9 p.m. when callers reported a black Nissan Sentra moving through the area of 71st Street and Collins Avenue without headlights and in a reckless manner. According to investigators, the car passed a Miami Beach officer as multiple 911 calls came in at nearly the same time. Officers said the Nissan then entered the intersection at 73rd Street and Collins Avenue, where Sarisa Kongduang, 22, and Greatgomon Laowatdhanasapya, 24, were crossing the street in North Beach. Police said the car hit both pedestrians with such force that they were thrown into the air and landed several feet from the point of impact. The vehicle kept going until it became disabled near 74th Street, investigators said. Miami Beach police spokesperson Christopher Bess said Thursday that the driver later told detectives he had closed his eyes and accelerated because he wanted to kill himself. “Unfortunately, he didn’t kill himself,” Bess said. “He killed two innocent lives last night.”
Investigators said Negron-Morris ran from the disabled sedan into the Walgreens at 7340 Collins Ave., where a witness followed him and held him there until officers arrived. Police said witnesses pointed him out to officers, and body camera footage later released by the department showed the arrest. Miami Beach Fire Rescue took the two victims to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center, where doctors pronounced them dead. Authorities said the victims were visiting from Indiana. WSVN reported that Indiana University said Laowatdhanasapya graduated in 2024 and Kongduang was a current student. Police have said Negron-Morris showed signs of impairment during a DUI investigation and refused to provide a blood sample, leading officers to order a forced blood draw at a hospital. Investigators also said Negron-Morris told them he lives with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anxiety and depression. He also told police, according to the arrest report described by local media, that he uses crack cocaine and marijuana, but said he had taken marijuana and an unknown medication from his girlfriend before the crash. Police have not publicly released blood-test results, and it was not immediately clear Thursday whether prosecutors would add DUI-related charges.
The location of the crash is a heavily traveled stretch of Collins Avenue in North Beach, near hotels, apartment buildings, shops and late-night businesses. On a spring break week in South Florida, that roadway can carry a mix of local traffic, ride-share vehicles, tourists on foot and residents moving between side streets and beachfront blocks. Miami-Dade County’s Vision Zero initiative says it aims to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2040, underscoring the broader push by local officials to treat roadway deaths as preventable rather than routine. City and county officials have also spent years discussing pedestrian and corridor safety improvements on Collins Avenue, one of Miami Beach’s main north-south roads. Even so, police accounts in this case described a car moving without headlights, at speed, through a populated area where people were crossing at an intersection. The details in the arrest report have made the case more than a simple crash investigation. Officers are now examining not only the deadly impact itself, but also the earlier driving behavior, the reported refusal to stop and the possibility of impairment.
Police said investigators soon learned that Negron-Morris may have been involved in another hit-and-run moments before the deadly collision, this one at 71st Street and Bay Drive on Normandy Isle. According to Local 10 and WSVN, officers believe that earlier crash happened just before the Nissan reached Collins Avenue. Police said an officer saw the driver leaving that scene and tried to catch up, but lost sight of the car shortly before the fatal collision in North Beach. That earlier case remains under investigation, and officials have said more charges could follow. As of Thursday, Negron-Morris was being held on a magistrate hold after being booked into Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. Court records and prosecutors’ filings were not fully detailed in the reports available Thursday evening, so several key points remained unresolved, including whether he had appeared before a judge, whether formal charging documents had been updated and when toxicology findings might be released. Those next steps are likely to shape whether the case stays centered on vehicular homicide and leaving-the-scene counts or expands into a broader prosecution involving impairment and the prior crash.
The human toll was already clear to people who rushed toward the intersection after the impact. A witness interviewed by 7News said he heard the crash, looked outside and saw two people on the ground. “It was bad. They were unconscious. I was praying for them the whole time. It was very sad,” the witness said. Bess, speaking for the department, said the quick calls from the public and the witness who followed the suspect into the store kept the driver from getting away. “I don’t even think he knew exactly what he had hit, but what I do know is he tried to get away,” Bess said. The remarks captured the anger and grief surrounding the case as police worked to identify the victims, notify relatives and sort through video, witness statements and forensic evidence. By Thursday, the names of the two victims had turned the crash from a breaking police case into a tragedy felt far beyond Miami Beach, reaching Indiana and the university community connected to both young adults.
The case remained active Thursday night, with Miami Beach police still investigating both the fatal collision at 73rd Street and Collins Avenue and the earlier reported hit-and-run on Normandy Isle. The next major milestones are expected to include court proceedings for Negron-Morris, possible additional charges and the release of toxicology or other investigative findings.
Author note: Last updated March 19, 2026.