FHP

TAVARES, Florida—The man accused of killing a young boy in a DUI crash turned himself in at the Lake County Jail Wednesday morning on DUI manslaughter charges, according to Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Tara Crescenzi.  

Daksh Wadhwa, 30, of Tavares, is accused of driving drunk Saturday on County Road 448 and killing the Mount Dora boy and seriously injuring his mom.

This is a developing story and Inside Lake is working on getting more details.

TAVARES, Florida—The 5-year-old boy who was critically injured in a crash on County Road 448 Saturday morning has died, according to Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Tara Crescenzi.

Daksh Wadhwa, 30, of Tavares, was driving a 2022 BMW 740I westbound on County Road 448 near Shirley Shores Road at 8:30 a.m. Saturday when he veered into the eastbound lane. Both he and the driver of a 2008 Honda Civic swerved to the left to avoid a collision, and the right front of the BMW struck the right side of the Honda, Crescenzi said in a press release.

The driver of the Honda, a 29-year-old Mount Dora woman, was transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center with serious injuries; her passenger, a 5-year-old boy identified as her son in social media posts, was airlifted to Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children with critical injuries. He succumbed to his injuries late Sunday night, Crescenzi said.

Wadhwa, who was unsteady on his feet and had alcohol emanating from his breath, according to the arrest report. He provided a breath sample and his BAC was .189, more than twice the legal limit of .08. He was arrested for DUI with serious bodily injury, possession of cocaine and smuggling contraband into a correctional facility. He was released on $3,000 bond Saturday; the charge has since been upgraded to DUI manslaughter, Crescenzi said Monday.

Many of our readers have questioned why Wadhwa’s bond was so low; we are working on getting information from FHP and the Lake County Jail for clarification.