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Tampa man sentenced to 9½ years in prison in fatal 2013 crash

 
Obed Morales, 55, of Tampa pleaded guilty.
Obed Morales, 55, of Tampa pleaded guilty.
Published Nov. 18, 2015

TAMPA — A man who fled the scene of a 2013 crash that left a 60-year-old woman dead pleaded guilty in court this week.

Obed Morales, 55, was sentenced to 9½ years in prison for the accident that killed Patricia Louisy. She was hit while crossing E Lake Avenue near N 12th Street at midnight June 9, 2013, according to police. She died a few days later at Tampa General Hospital.

Morales was found about an hour after the crash, sitting in the driver's seat of a Nissan Altima in a nearby parking lot, according to an arrest report. The car's windshield was shattered. Blood and hair were stuck to the broken glass, police said.

When officers questioned Morales, he said he did not know how the damage had happened, according to the report. He also admitted that he had been the only one driving the vehicle that day, police said.

DNA swabs taken from the windshield of the Altima showed that it was the vehicle that struck Louisy, but forensic testing delayed criminal charges in the case for more than a year.

Morales pleaded guilty Monday to leaving the scene of a crash involving death, court records show.