Woman accused of concealing evidence after fatal hit-and-run sentenced to prison

A 20-year-old woman accused of concealing evidence after a fatal hit-and-run crash earlier this year was sentenced to at least five years in prison.

Joanna Meza was arrested Jan. 21 after she struck and killed a woman early that morning at East Lake Mead Boulevard and Mt. Hood Street, and then drove away from the scene, the Metropolitan Police Department has said. She pleaded guilty in May to a felony charge of failing to stop at the scene of a crash involving death or personal injury, court records show.

Meza initially faced charges of reckless driving, destroying evidence and failing to stop at the scene of a crash.

Police said that Rakiyah Poole, 24, was attempting to cross Lake Mead Boulevard when she was struck by Meza’s vehicle.

“The defendant never slowed down,” Deputy District Attorney Yu Meng said on Tuesday.

Meza’s defense attorney, Frank Coumou, said evidence showed Poole had gotten out of a different car and walked into the path of Meza’s vehicle.

Meng said surveillance footage captured Meza at a nearby gas station after she fled the scene of the crash. The video appeared to show her changing clothes and wiping down her car.

On Monday, District Judge Mary Kay Holthus sentenced Meza to between five and 15 years in prison.

Coumou said Tuesday that his client, who was 19 at the time of the crash, has expressed remorse and accepted her prison sentence. He said that after the crash, Meza panicked and didn’t know what to do.

“It’s a tragedy all around,” he said.

Following the crash, one of Meza’s neighbors had called police to report her damaged vehicle at the apartment complex with a bottle of alcohol inside, Meng said. Police then arrested her at the apartment complex.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.