Driver charged with hitting a homeless Tri-Cities woman, then driving away

A 24-year-old Tri-Cities man is charged with the hit and run death of a homeless woman six months after she was killed crossing a Kennewick street.

Investigators say Juvenal Flores Jr. drove nearly 2 miles with a shattered front windshield after hitting the woman before stopping and calling police.

Benton County prosecutors have charged Flores in Superior Court with the felony hit and run death of Rona Bowles, 34, on Dec. 3.

She was crossing a dark stretch of 10th Avenue west of the Fred Meyer grocery about 7:15 p.m. when she was struck by his Nissan passenger car, Kennewick police said.

Witnesses called 911 soon after but she died later at Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland.

Flores reportedly did not stop and waited about 15 minutes before calling police.

Officers found him on the 3200 block of Seventh Avenue, court documents said.

Flores and his passenger told investigators they were driving on 10th Avenue when the windshield shattered. The passenger told investigators that they didn’t see the woman before the collision.

The area is not well lit and the woman, who was wearing dark clothes, was not in a crosswalk, Commander Isaac Merkl previously told the Tri-City Herald.

Flores is expected back in court on July 31.

This story was originally published July 14, 2025 at 3:50 PM.