Prosecutor Tells Jury She Handed Him a Death Sentence in Dying Last Words Trial of Leigha Mumby

The prosecutor told the jury Leigha Mumby handed her boyfriend a death sentence, then showed them why. This is Day 2 of the Dying Last Words trial in Flagler County, Florida. Leigha Mumby was on trial over a February 2025 crash that badly injured her boyfriend, Daniel Waterman, 22, who fought for about eight months and then died. She was charged with reckless driving causing serious bodily injury and vehicular homicide. This clip is the heart of the State's closing argument, and it is built like a checklist. First, the cause of death. Assistant State Attorney Melissa Clark reminds the jury that the pathologist, Dr. Terzian, separated the mechanism of death from the cause. Pneumonia was the mechanism, she says, "but the cause of death was the car crash." Her line on it is simple: "But for that crash, Daniel Waterman would be alive today." Then her state of mind. The State plays a recording for the jury, which the prosecutor said was the paramedic's questions, and you hear the words the State wanted them to keep: "My boyfriend and I were fighting. That was what was going on." Clark ties that to Sarah Stappenbeck's account of a screaming phone call that ended with Leigha hanging up. Then the numbers. The Progressive data, she argues, never has her under 90 in the last two minutes and has her upwards of 110. The car's black box has 95, 94, 94, and at three and a half seconds out the pedal at 87%. "She's practically flooring the accelerator when she's already traveling at 94 miles an hour." Nothing wrong with the car, a dry, clear night, all four tires fully inflated. "This was all driver." Then the turn. At that speed, she reminds them, the crash expert said the car covers 160 feet a second, and a turn you could recover from at 35 is one you cannot recover from at 94. She puts five degrees and 45 degrees on the screen side by side. Then the motive she argues sits under all of it: a pregnancy Leigha had learned about that morning, and a text from another woman that night. Here is what I want you to watch for. Every number in this argument comes from a machine, and the machines can tell you how fast and how far. The State is asking the jury to read anger off a speed chart and a 45 degree turn, and the defense will ask whether that turn was a choice at all. Later on Day 2 the jury found Leigha Mumby guilty on both counts. This is the argument they heard first. Watch it, and decide for yourself whether the data carries all the weight the State put on it. --- KEY MOMENTS 0:00 What this video is, and a preview 0:21 Video starts 1:17 The State says the crash, not the pneumonia, killed him 2:39 The recording the State played for the jury 5:13 Why that turn was reckless at 94 6:50 The motive: a pregnancy and a text 8:15 The death sentence line, and the ask --- COMPLETE CASE COVERAGE justiceisaprocess.com SUBSCRIBE for daily trial coverage. CASE BACKGROUND REPORT: https://justiceisaprocess.com/fl-v-le... The full case overview: the charges, the timeline, the people involved, and the legal questions this trial raises. State of Florida v. Leigha Mumby. Seventh Judicial Circuit, Flagler County, in Bunnell, Florida, Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols presiding. Leigha Mumby is charged with vehicular homicide in the death of Daniel Waterman, and with reckless driving causing serious bodily injury. She has pleaded not guilty. A charge is an accusation, and she is presumed innocent unless the State proves its case beyond a reasonable doubt. Only the jurors decide that. PLAYLISTS AND RESOURCES Website: https://justiceisaprocess.com/coverag... Full Trial Live Broadcasts:    • FL v. Leigha Mumby: Full Trial Live Broadc...   No Breaks Edition:    • FL v. Leigha Mumby: No Breaks Edition   Case Story Trial Podcast:    • FL v. Leigha Mumby: Case Story Trial Podcast   Key Moments and Testimony:    • FL v. Leigha Mumby: Key Moments & Testimony   Commentary:    • FL v. Leigha Mumby: Commentary   Subscribe for Daily Coverage:    / @justiceisaprocess   FAIR USE AND EDUCATIONAL PURPOSE This content is produced under Fair Use (17 U.S.C. 107) for news reporting, criticism, and educational purposes. We provide transformative commentary on public court proceedings, advancing public understanding of the judicial process through timestamps, analysis, and educational context. #JusticeIsAProcess #DyingLastWordsTrial #LeighaMumby #DanielWaterman