Arrest made in hit-and-run that killed 9-year-old girl, Sacramento police say
A driver suspected in a hit-and-run crash Thursday that killed a 9-year-old girl and injured her father in Sacramento’s South Oak Park neighborhood has been arrested, police said Friday evening.
Miracle Jeovana Merritt, 30, of Sacramento, was arrested Friday, the Sacramento Police Department said Friday evening in a social media post. Sacramento County jail records Saturday morning showed Merritt was booked on suspicion of felony hit-and-run resulting in death or permanent serious injury, felony vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence and misdemeanor driving without a valid license.
She was being held on $500,000 bail and is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday, according to jail records.
The deadly crash took place just before 8 p.m. Thursday and involved a vehicle that collided with a “mini-motorcycle” near 39th Street and 19th Avenue before fleeing the scene. Responding officers located a man and a 9-year-old girl who had been on the minibike, both of whom were taken to a hospital. The girl died about an hour later at the hospital, and the man is expected to survive, police said.
The Police Department in Friday’s post said the arrest by its Major Collisions Unit followed an investigation by responding officers, detectives and crime scene investigators that involved a four-hour neighborhood canvass.
The identity of the 9-year-old had not been released by the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office as of Friday evening, pending notification of family.
Sacramento County online jail logs as of 8:30 p.m. Friday did not show Merritt as booked.
This story was originally published June 12, 2026 at 8:33 PM.
