An 82-year-old woman in Miami will not serve any prison time after she struck a 7-year-old boy riding an electric scooter and then left him injured on the roadside, according to court records.
Karina Pubchara-Martinez entered a guilty plea to charges of fleeing the scene of a crash involving serious injuries. A judge handed down a sentence of five months of probation.
How the Crash Happened
The collision took place around midday on January 10, 2026, near the intersection of SW 32nd Street and SW 82nd Avenue. According to an arrest report, the child was riding his scooter with his mother following close behind when he attempted to cross the street and was struck by a Toyota Camry.
Rather than stopping to help, the driver continued on. When police arrived, they found the boy lying on the ground, unable to move. He had sustained a serious head injury, a fractured thigh bone, along with cuts and bruising. He was rushed to a hospital for treatment.
Tracking Down the Driver
It took investigators nearly two weeks to locate the vehicle involved, which they eventually found about three miles from the crash location. The Camry still bore front-end damage matching the collision.
Cell phone location records helped police connect Pubchara-Martinez to the scene. She later turned herself in to authorities and was released after posting a $7,500 bond.
Driver’s Account
Although she chose not to cooperate with police during the investigation, Pubchara-Martinez spoke with reporters and appeared to shift blame onto the child, claiming he darted into her path while she was driving back from her son’s home.
She said she panicked because she wasn’t wearing her glasses at the time, which is why she left the scene — something she acknowledged was wrong. She maintained that the child and his mother failed to stop when they should have, but admitted that leaving made her situation worse. She also expressed remorse over what happened and said she was praying for the boy’s recovery.
The Boy’s Recovery
The child’s mother said in the aftermath that she couldn’t understand how someone could strike a child and simply drive away. She noted that if she hadn’t been present, she might have found her son dead. The boy has undergone multiple surgeries since the crash and, according to his mother, still faces a long recovery ahead.