PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — A Hudson woman was jailed for DUI manslaughter early Sunday morning after she was involved in a crash that killed a motorcyclist, authorities said.
Melissa Lopez, 25, was also charged with DUI property damage and driving with no driver license involving a death, according to the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP).
According to an FHP report, Lopez was driving a Chevy Impala northbound on U.S. Highway 19 at about 1:10 a.m. in Pasco County.
At the same time, a 21-year-old Inverness man was driving a Kawasaki motorcycle southbound on U.S. 19.
At the intersection of Sea Ranch Drive, Lopez turned left under a flashing yellow left turn signal and into the path of the motorcycle, the report stated. The motorcycle then slammed into the right side of the Impala and caught fire.
The motorcyclist was taken to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Lopez was booked into the Pasco County Jail. Her blood alcohol content was 0.144, FHP officials said.
Earlier FHP reports stated that she was found with no clothes and charged with lewd and lascivious conduct. FHP has since updated that report to state that was not the case.
A state report says hundreds of frail elderly nursing home residents were stacked side by side, head to toe in a small church with no working air conditioning or refrigerator during Hurricane Helene.
