PALM BAY, Fla. – A Palm Bay man has been arrested in connection with an April crash that killed two sisters, according to the police department.
The Palm Bay Police Department said Kester Loy Patterson, 38, was arrested Thursday months after the April 17 crash near a Publix plaza at 4711 Babcock St.
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Investigators said a white vehicle was turning into the plaza when it was struck by a black Mercedes traveling north on Babcock Street. The victims in the white Nissan were identified as 61-year-old Noemi Hammen and 58-year-old Maria Ramirez, sisters from the Melbourne area.
The crash was initially investigated as a hit-and-run, however, witnesses told authorities the black Mercedes and a dark blue Chrysler 300 were racing at the time of the collision, police said. However, at the time, investigators also said there have been conflicting accounts and they checked surveillance video from the area to determine whether street racing was involved.
Police said a blood test showed Patterson was under the influence of cannabis at the time of the crash.
Patterson is facing two counts of vehicular homicide, two counts of DUI manslaughter, DUI causing damage to another and DUI.
He is currently booked in the Brevard County jail on a $315,000 bond.
He was previously held without bond.