A memorial on Sunset Boulevard commemorates Erika Edwards, who was struck and killed on June 29. (photo by Edwin Folven )

A 30-year-old man is charged with felony vehicular manslaughter for allegedly hitting and killing a female pedestrian on Sunset Boulevard in June and fleeing the scene.

The suspect, Davontay Robins, appeared in court for an arraignment hearing on Aug. 12 but the hearing was continued to Oct. 16. The defendant posted $50,000 bail after being arrested on July 22 and remains free on bond pending the October hearing.

Robins is accused of hitting 37-year-old Erika “Tilly” Edwards around 9 p.m. on June 29 as she crossed Sunset Boulevard near Sierra Bonita Avenue. Edwards was walking to her car after leaving a fundraiser for the LGBTQ+ community. Witnesses described the vehicle that struck Edwards as a Mercedes-Benz G-Class SUV, commonly referred to as a G-Wagon. The SUV was heading east and was last seen turning right from Sunset Boulevard onto southbound Gardner Street.

Detective David Holmes, with the Los Angeles Police Department’s West Traffic Division, said investigators located security camera footage and tracked it to an address in Hollywood. Robins was arrested on July 22 at his residence a few blocks from the crash scene, Holmes said. He declined to provide the specific location. Police found the Mercedes G-Wagon at an auto body repair shop in South Los Angeles where Robins took it after the collision. Some of the parts had already been removed and a portion of the exterior was spray-painted.

Robins is charged with vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and hit-and-run driving resulting in death or serious injury, both felonies, as well as misdemeanor driving on a suspended or revoked license due to a prior DUI conviction. Holmes said excessive speed was the primary factor in the collision. Police do not know if Robins was under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time. No information was available about Robin’s previous DUI conviction.

The victim’s husband, Kris Edwards, attended the hearing on Aug. 12. Reached afterward, he said Robins’ bail should have been much higher and he is upset the defendant remains free. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office asked that bail in the case be set at $100,000, but the initial bail amount was upheld. The bail system requires a defendant to post 10% of the amount in order to be released – in this case $5,000.

“It cost me more to bury my wife than it did for him to get out of jail and be free,” Edwards said. “He got out for $5,000 and it blows my mind. He took a life, fled the scene and then tried to cover it up. He tried to get away with it.”

Los Angeles City Councilman Hugo Soto-Martinez, 13th District, said Edwards’ death is a tragedy.

“In Los Angeles, traffic violence kills more people each year than homicides, yet we don’t treat it with the same urgency,” Soto-Martinez said. “We need real accountability for those who commit acts of traffic violence, and we must invest in structural solutions that make our streets safer. Every death like this is preventable, and we cannot allow more innocent lives to be needlessly lost on our roads.”

Robins faces six years in prison and a $10,000 fine on the vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence charge, four to six years in prison for the felony hit-and-run charge and up to six months for driving on a suspended or revoked license.

Edwards said the family is planning to file a civil lawsuit against the defendant and is working with attorneys and a private investigator. He added that it has not been easy to obtain information about Robins, adding the defendant, “scrubbed his social media after the collision.” Edwards said he saw Robins for the first time at the hearing on Aug. 12 and it was “overwhelming.”

“It was good to put a face to it, to get a sense of who I am dealing with. I am going to be going to court for every hearing and it’s going to be a long case,” he said. “But it’s hard not to go straight to anger. In a small way, it was a feeling of relief. [My wife] taught me not to be angry, so as much as I want to be angry I am not going to. I’m trying to keep her story alive and tell as many people as I can about what happened to my wife, and keep shining a spotlight on what he did.”