Woman sentenced to 5 years in prison in 2006 deadly DUI crash in Hialeah
A woman who fatally struck another woman in Hialeah while driving drunk nearly two decades ago and then fled the country before she was captured last year pleaded guilty on Tuesday.
Leydis Menendez Abdala, 52, was charged with vehicular homicide/reckless manner and DUI manslaughter.
During her court appearance on Tuesday, Abdala was sentenced to five years in prison and is required to complete substance abuse treatment.
Her driver’s license will also be revoked.
According to Hialeah Police, the victim, Gloria Marcia Hall, left her home at around 4 a.m. on Aug. 12, 2006, and stopped at a light on 68th Street.
As she made her way down the road, she was struck by a vehicle that ran a red light.
Hall’s brother, Miami Police Commander Joaquin Freire, said during an interview that his sister died at the scene after being hit, while Abdala was airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital.
According to prosecutors, Abdala’s alcohol levels were more than twice the legal limit, but before she could be arrested, her boyfriend, allegedly a former Hialeah Police officer, had given her the heads up, and she fled the country. Other officers possibly helped her escape, prosecutors alleged.
Nearly 20 years after fleeing the country, prosecutors got word Abdala was getting deported by Mexican officials, and she was extradited to South Florida and booked into a Miami-Dade jail on Aug. 29, 2025.
Prosecutors said the 5-year prison term might not be enough punishment but because of how old the case is, it would have been challenging to put together the case for trial.
When she made her first court appearance after being captured, Freire said it felt bittersweet to see Abdala in person after all these years.
“It’s bringing back the pain that this person has caused my family and I. Not only that, is she didn’t accept responsibility for her actions. So that is the bigger thing,” Freire said. “The other side is having that gratitude, seeing her sitting there in orange jumpers, knowing she is at the county jail.”
After Tuesday’s hearing, Freire said the family finally has closure.
“This is all we wanted, we just wanted justice for Gloria since the beginning. It took two decades but we finally got here,” he said.
Hall’s family also had a message for those who helped Abdala get away.
“I hope they all rot in hell. I hope they get to feel the same pain the same pain my family has endured or 20 years,” Freire said.
