Suspect In Fatal NSB Hit & Run Caught In Daytona

Posted
New Smyrna Beach, FL - A 32-year-old man wanted for his role in a fatal hit-and-run accident last October is now in custody. The New Smyrna Beach Police Department announced the arrest of Jeremy Wharton on its Twitter page earlier today, five days after asking the public for help in finding him.
Wharton was caught by Daytona Beach police this afternoon and will be held on no bond at Volusia County Jail once processed. Detectives say DNA puts Wharton behind the wheel of an early-morning crash last October 29th which killed 21-year-old Kaelee Morrell and sent another person to the hospital with minor injuries. Detectives think Wharton was driving a 2006 Chevrolet Tahoe around 2 a.m. that Sunday when it fled the scene of that incident on eastbound State Road 44 near Venetian Bay Golf Club. Wharton is facing two felony charges of leaving the scene of a crash.