LARGO – A woman has been arrested following a hit-and-run crash that injured Cristiane Souza de Oliveira and her 6-year-old daughter, Aylla Rodrigues, outside a Walmart in Largo.
According to the Largo Police Department, the incident occurred at approximately 8:45 p.m. on Thursday, May 8, 2025, in the parking lot of the Walmart located at 2677 Roosevelt Boulevard. Investigators say 32-year-old Lauren Howells was operating a Jaguar sedan recklessly through the lot, striking multiple vehicles as well as Cristiane Souza de Oliveira and her 6-year-old daughter, Aylla Rodrigues.
The impact caused Aylla to become pinned underneath the vehicle, and she was dragged approximately 500 feet. Surveillance video captured the beginning of the crash. Howells fled the scene in the car, which was later found parked at the Clearwater Inn at 2960 Gulf to Bay Boulevard. Video from a motel showed Howells getting into the car alone shortly before the incident and returning to the motel minutes later with visible fresh damage consistent with the crash. It was determined that Howells left the motel in a second vehicle before the Clearwater Police arrived.
While continuing to search for the suspect and the second vehicle, Largo Police learned the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office stopped a separate car that was also registered to Howells for a traffic stop. Largo Police worked with Pinellas County Deputies to locate Howells, and she was taken into custody at The Murphy Hotel located at 4900 34th Street.
During a post-Miranda interview, Howells admitted to being the driver at the time of the crash and confirmed she was the only person in the vehicle. She told investigators she remembered hitting something, was unsure what it was, panicked, and fled the scene.
Aylla was transported to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital with very critical injuries. The mother was taken to Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital in St. Petersburg with significant but non-life-threatening injuries.
Aylla sustained life-threatening injuries, including two broken legs, a fractured left femur, a fractured left humerus, a skull fracture, a pelvic fracture, a liver laceration, and evisceration injuries. She remains in critical condition at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital. Cristiane Souza de Oliveira suffered significant injuries, which included a laceration to the back of her head, a skull fracture, and a brain bleed, and is being treated at Orlando Health Bayfront Hospital in St. Petersburg.
Howells is charged with leaving the scene of a crash with property damage, two counts of leaving the scene of a crash with injuries, and reckless driving with serious bodily injury.
GoFundMe account for Cristiane Souza de Oliveira and her 6-year-old daughter, Aylla Rodrigues
As of Friday at 1:30 p.m., there are no updates on their injuries. Both victims remain at the hospital.
The Largo Police Department thanked the Clearwater Police Department and the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office for their assistance and support throughout this investigation.
The arrest information shows Howells as a Clearwater transient with no listed home address.
Howells was arrested in 2023 for multiple drug charges, which included possession of crack cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia along with Klonopin. Other charges, in 2023, included grand theft, petit theft, and attaching a license plate not assigned to the vehicle.
The investigation remains ongoing.
