Medical examiner identifies 2 victims killed in Arlington hit-and-run; driver arrested
A man has been arrested in connection with a hit-and-run crash that killed a man and a woman in Arlington, after a tipster provided police with pictures of the suspect’s car.
Nathan Vaughan, 33, was identified as the driver of the suspect vehicle, a silver Chevrolet Malibu that was seen traveling from one bar to another at the time of the crash, Arlington police said in a news release on Wednesday, Dec. 18.
Officers found Vaughan in Grand Prairie and initially arrested him on unrelated, outstanding misdemeanor warrants on Tuesday, Dec. 17, police said.
After Vaughan was in custody, investigators filed two charges of collision involving death against him, police said.
Police responded to the accident on Sunday, Dec. 15, at the intersection of East Lamar Boulevard and Corporate Drive, which resulted in the deaths of two pedestrians who were walking on a sidewalk.
When officers arrived, they found the victims lying unresponsive on the ground. Both people were pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the victims as 23-year-old Kiara Nicole Valdez and 22-year-old Jahlil Royale Kirkland.
Investigators believe they were staying at one of the motels in the area, police said.
Police said after a widespread media coverage of the fatal crash, investigators received an actionable lead through Crime Stoppers of Tarrant County on Monday, Dec. 16.
“The tipster said the night of the hit-and-run, they’d seen a silver Chevrolet Malibu with heavy front-end damage, matching the description of the suspect vehicle they’d heard about on the news, parked at a bar in the 300 block of Great Southwest Parkway,” police said in a news release.
Police said the tipster also provided images of the car, which included a tag number.
Using that information, Vaughan was determined to be the registered owner of the Chevy Malibu. Investigators also used traffic and Flock license plate-reader cameras to track the Malibu’s movements the night of the hit-and-run, which were consistent with the timeframe of the collision, police said.
Officers found the Malibu at Vaughan’s home in Grand Prairie.
“When investigators spoke to him, he admitted to driving the Malibu and indicated he thought he’d hit a light pole,” police said.
The collision occurred when Vaughan had just left a bar along East Lamar Boulevard and was traveling to the bar along Great Southwest Parkway, police said.
Vaughan was booked at the Arlington City Jail and then transferred to the Tarrant County Jail.
This story was originally published December 16, 2024 at 11:42 AM.