Left: Maecee Marie Lathers selfie (Instagram). Inset: Maecee Marie Lathers (Miami-Dade Police). Right: Scene of crash in downtown Miami allegedly caused by Lathers on Aug. 10, 2024 that killed 2. (WTVJ/YouTube).
A Florida court ruled Thursday that an Instagram model charged with killing two men in a fatal crash won’t get her two iPads and iPhone back because these have evidentiary value. Prosecutors in Miami-Dade County are working on breaking through the phone’s password protection, and they want to see if the devices have any evidence on 24-year-old Maecee Lather’s whereabouts earlier on Aug. 10, 2024.
Authorities have said she was behind the wheel of a Mercedes at around 7 a.m. that day while high on “pink cocaine.” She allegedly ran a red light, crashing into a Suzuki. The crash killed Abraham Molina and his friend Jesus Rubio, and injured Molina’s fiancée Juanita Hernandez while the victims were on their way to work. Minutes later, Lathers told cops that she was “from the future.” A third vehicle, a Range Rover, was also involved.
Prosecutors want to keep her electronic devices in light of these substance-related allegations in her vehicular manslaughter case.
Bodycam video showed Lathers vomiting in the street after the crash, at one point screaming, and then telling officers “My name is Mercedes!”
In the video, the cops could then be heard saying that Lathers had acknowledged being on the ketamine-based party drug “tusi” or “2C,” otherwise known as “pink cocaine.”
“Awesome, amazing,” a male officer at the scene replied. “Are you on drugs?”
Authorities claim Lathers had no license, and accelerated “at 100%” from 57 mph to 78 mph when she caused the deadly crash.
Prosecutors previously sought and obtained pretrial detainment. The court saw Lathers as “extremely dangerous.” She remains in jail.
Matt Naham contributed to this report.
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