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Polk Woman Charged In Hit-And-Run That Killed Teen

Photo provided by Bill Landes

Fatal hit-and-run victim Samantha Hasting, 17, is shown with her boyfriend, Luis Reyes.

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By NEIL JOHNSON | The Tampa Tribune
and NATALIE SHEPHERD | News Channel 8

Published: January 18, 2009

Updated: 01/18/2009 10:30 pm

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Candy Cummings

HAINES CITY - Before she left her house Friday night to hang out with a friend, Samantha Hasting sent a text message.

"OK, I'll be there in a little while," Hasting wrote in a text message to Taryn Hall. "I love you."
That was the last thing that Hasting ever told her, Hall said.

"She was going to walk down to my house and see me," Hall said. "She never came over."

About midnight, Hall and Hasting's mother found the 17-year-old girl laying on top of a barbed wire fence on Bradbury Road. Polk County sheriff's deputies say Hasting was the victim of a hit-and-run crash.

On Sunday, an anonymous tip led deputies to arrest a woman in connection with Hasting's death.
Candy Cummings, 20, of Davenport, was arrested Sunday morning and charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident and driving without a valid license, the Polk County Sheriff's Office said.

She was released from Polk County Jail on Sunday afternoon after posting $15,500 bond, jail records show.

Investigators are looking into possible charges against her husband, who the sheriff's office said was also in the car when Candy Cummings hit Hasting sometime between 6:30 p.m. and midnight Friday.

The sheriff's office did not identify the husband.

Deputies say Hasting left home about 6:30 p.m. Friday to walk less than a mile to her friend's house.

Hasting's mother had sent her daughter text messages at 9 p.m., but her daughter hadn't replied, the sheriff's office said. The friend also became concerned by about midnight when she realized Hasting had left to visit her hours earlier.

Based upon evidence at the scene, investigators think Hasting was walking north on Bradbury Road, south of Hinson Avenue, when she was struck from behind and thrown about 75 feet into the fence, the sheriff's office said.

Her belongings and debris from the impact were scattered for about 150 feet.

The sheriff's office received a tip about 11:45 p.m. Saturday that a car with damage to the front passenger side was in Davenport.

The sheriff's office arrest affidavit said Candy Cummings told deputies she and her husband were visiting family members Friday night in Haines City near the accident scene and left about 6:45 p.m.
She also told deputies she hit something while driving her husband's 1992 Mercury Grand Marquis north on Bradbury Road but did not report the accident because she did not have a valid license and had never possessed a driver license, the affidavit said.

Cummings told deputies she hoped she's hit a large dog, according to the affidavit. The impact knocked off a side mirror and caved in the windshield, the affidavit said.

After the accident she drove back to her home on U.S. 92, the sheriff's office said.

Cummings' explanation of why she drove away did not sit well with Bill Landes, a friend of Hasting's family.

"I don't have the words right now," Landes said. "I really don't."

Landes said Hasting was going to Taryn Hall's house to join friends for a bonfire. He said Hasting was easy to talk to, was always happy and was able to inspire people.

"She's the type of girl who didn't have enemies," Landes said. "How can something like this happened to such a fine girl?"

Relatives and friends who gathered at Hasting's Haines City home on Sunday say they are glad an arrest was made but it won't bring back the girl they all knew as "Sammie."

"She was very crazy and outgoing," Taryn Hall said. "She's really goofy. She just liked to have fun."

Hall said she and other friends are trying to raise the $6,000 needed for the funeral. Friends held a car wash on Sunday and so far have raised $1,700.

"Our whole community came together just for Samantha," Hall said. "I still want to cry, but I know I have to be strong for our friends and family."

Tribune reporter Ray Reyes contributed to this report. Tribune reporter Neil Johnson can be reached at (813) 259-7731. News Channel 8 reporter Natalie Shepherd can be reached at (813) 225-2703.

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