A family in Florida is one step closer to justice. Taeler Bennett and her two young sons were crossing the street in their Sarasota neighborhood one night when they were involved in a hit-and-run accident. Both of Bennett’s sons, one strapped to her chest and the other in a stroller, were killed at the scene. As a result of her injuries, the mom was taken to the hospital, where she remained in a coma. Nearly a month after the accident, the woman who reportedly hit them with her car was arrested. But everything changed when Bennett finally succumbed to her injuries and died. Now, the woman has a date to face a jury.
The driver will go to trial nearly two years after the deadly accident.
In April 2026, it was announced that 73-year-old June Fenton’s hit-and-run case would be going to trial, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported. On May 4, the newspaper reported that according to court records, there will be a docket sounding in November 2026 to confirm if the case will move to trial in early or mid-December. Currently, it is expected that the trial will begin in December.
About 8:30 p.m. on February 10, 2025, then 72-year-old Fenton was driving her Lexus and apparently hit Bennett and her sons, 5-month-old Kiylan Galliher and 2-year-old Rio Galliher, while they were walking.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Fenton applied her brakes after hitting Bennett, but then she continued going south before making a U-turn. She then slowly drove past where pedestrians were tending to the family, the Herald-Tribune reported.
In surveillance footage collected by police, the damage done to the car’s grill and front bumper is visible. Pieces of the car’s headlight lens were collected, which gave police a lead in figuring out the type of car involved in the accident.
That evidence led them to Fenton’s home two days after the crash.
When questioned by police, Fenton said she had been out feeding cats and was on her way home at the time of the crash. She believed she had hit a dog in the street, but she turned back to check out the scene.
“Fenton stated she saw several people in the road, and she did not want to see a dog suffering,” the affidavit read. “Fenton stated once she saw people there helping the dog, she went home.”
She was arrested on March 3, 2025, nearly a month after the crash, WFLA reported at the time. Despite not stopping to help Bennett and her sons, Fenton “cooperated fully” with the police investigation.
“We appreciate the patience and support shown by the community during this investigation. This incident has deeply impacted the lives of many,” Chief Rex Troche said at the time, per WFLA. “Like all investigations, this case highlights the importance of teamwork, patience, and trust within our community.”
Fenton was charged with two counts of leaving the scene of a traffic crash resulting in a fatality and one count of leaving the scene of a traffic crash resulting in serious injury, WFLA reported at the time. She was given a $650,000 bond, wasn’t allowed to drive, and had to wear an ankle monitor.
Taeler Bennett died two months after the crash.
On April 11, 2025, Bennett’s family confirmed her death, WWSB reported at the time. She had been in a coma since the crash that killed her sons.
As a result of her death, 12th Circuit State Attorney Ed Brodsky told the outlet that Fenton’s charges “will be enhanced from leaving the scene of an accident causing serious bodily injury to causing death.” She had pleaded not guilty to the original charges.
At the time of Bennett’s death, Fenton had bonded out of jail. “They are giving this woman too much freedom. I don’t care how much money anybody has or anything,” Jessica Galliher, the boys’ grandmother, told WTSP in April 2025.
“It’s hard because she’s sleeping in her own bed, eating what she wants, while my grandchildren are in a casket in the ground not getting to play, not going to be with their siblings, and then hearing my granddaughter ask her daddy, ‘Why didn’t you save my brothers?’”
