According to the Seminole County judge and the defense lawyers representing her, Shona Wallace, the Florida woman who was accused of running into a sidewalk and hitting a family of three who were out riding their bikes, killing a 17-month-old girl and gravely injuring her parents, passed away a few weeks after her conviction.
Wallace was found guilty by a jury in March of DUI manslaughter, vehicular homicide, and causing harm to Adalyn Zisa’s parents, Shannon and Dane Zisa, after the June 2019 event.
For those charges, Wallace was awaiting punishment.
At a Friday hearing on Wallace’s medical condition, the Seminole County court and her defense counsel made the announcement of Wallace’s passing. Both withheld Wallace’s cause of death. Furthermore, it’s unclear how this development—a defendant found guilty but passing away before receiving a formal sentence—affects the case.
“This court cannot pretend – as Shannon Zisa cannot pretend – that her 17-month-old daughter wasn’t killed. The court cannot pretend that didn’t happen. The court cannot pretend that Dane Zisa did not suffer a traumatic brain injury and now is in an assisted living facility for the remainder of his life,” Seminole County Judge Donna Goerner stated during Friday’s court hearing.
There was a delay in the trial phase when the judge declared that Wallace had apparently fallen in the bathroom and was brought to the hospital. After the trial went on, Wallace was declared guilty.
The judge declared during that hearing that Wallace had been admitted to the hospital once more, which caused the sentence phase to be postponed from its scheduled start date of April 8. What ultimately caused that hospitalization was not immediately apparent.
“I’ve said from the beginning that this was for earthly justice, but I ultimately believed that she would face true justice on the day she died. I believe wholeheartedly that on Saturday, she faced the ultimate judge,” Shannon Zisa stated.
“I’m not sure that there is justice in this, nothing will ever undo what happened, but I think this is as close to justice as I’m gonna get.”
Due to his catastrophic brain injury sustained in the collision, her husband Dane is receiving care from an assisted living facility.
The police report states that Adalyn, Shannon and Dane Zisa’s 18-month-old daughter, was being hauled in a bicycle trailer when they went for a bike ride. At the northwest corner of Eden Park Road and State Route 414, they were riding on the sidewalk.
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Shannon had Analyn in tow. Around 7:30 p.m., according to the police, Wallace’s 2000 Mazda 646 left the road and ran into the family on the sidewalk.
According to the report, witnesses informed police that Wallace’s car was driving erratically when it veered off the road and hit the family. Wallace was seen by one witness to fall out of the car.
Adalyn’s father, Dane, was severely hurt. Adalyn passed away in the hospital after the three of them were admitted.
Wallace, the report said, was wearing a patch that said “Fentanyl” According to the arrest report, bloodwork also revealed that she reportedly had cocaine, THC, fentanyl, and another narcotic in her system at the time.
Wallace allegedly admitted to medical personnel that it was an accident and that she did not recall the original impact.
