TikTok Star 'Tea Tyme' Arrested and Accused of Hitting and Killing Man While Livestreaming By Tabitha Parent

TikToker Tynesha McCarty-Wroten – known to her online followers as Tea Tyme — was arrested after the social media creator allegedly hit and killed a pedestrian while livestreaming as she drove through a Chicago suburb in November.

According to a press release from the Zion Police Department obtained by PEOPLE, McCarty-Wroten was arrested on Tuesday, Dec. 23, for her alleged involvement in the traffic accident, which killed 59-year-old Darren Lucas as he walked home from his shift at a grocery store in Zion, Ill., on Nov. 3.

Per the release, “numerous members of the public reached out to Zion Investigators to inform them of a TikTok video that allegedly showed Ms. McCarty-Wroten livestreaming herself driving at the time of the crash.”

Investigators verified the video, and after McCarty-Wroten later surrendered her phone through her attorney, forensic analysis was able to confirm that the video had been recorded at the date and time of the crash, authorities said.

Per a report from The Guardian, the video that had circulated at the time was a screen recording of a livestream, which allegedly showed a user with the handle “Tea_Tyme_3” speaking to her phone before a loud thump is heard.

“F—, f—, f— … I just hit somebody,” the driver reportedly said, as someone in the car asked what had happened.

That account was subsequently made private, and a biography section that said the user was from Zion was deleted, The Guardian also reported.

The Lake County State Attorney’s Office issued a warrant for the charges of reckless homicide and aggravated use of an electronic communication device on Tuesday, per the release, and McCarty-Wroten was arrested by Zion police officers almost immediately after the warrant was issued. The police claim in the release that she was seen attempting attempted to leave her home with several packed bags.

According to case details provided about the incident in the release, Lucas had just finished his shift at a nearby grocery store and was on his walk back to his home in nearby Beach Park, when he was struck at an intersection while attempting to cross.

The Zion Police Department and Zion Fire Department responded to the intersection at approximately 5:46 p.m., discovering Lucas who was “seriously injured.” He was rushed to Vista Medical Center and was later pronounced dead.

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Police identified the driver of the vehicle that struck Lucas at the time as McCarty-Wroten, who stayed at the scene and cooperated with officers, per the release. An 8-year-old minor was also in the vehicle, police said.

McCarty-Wroten voluntarily traveled with officers to the Zion Police Department where she provided a statement and submitted to a blood and urine test, though the authorities say she initially declined to allow investigators to search her cell phone.

At the time, the social media creator told police that she believed she had a green light when she went through the intersection and claimed that she did not see Lucas crossing.

Investigators studied the scene and videos from nearby businesses, which they allege show the vehicle had traveled southbound through the intersection while the light for southbound traffic was red, and had been traveling at a speed near the posted speed limit of 35 miles per hour and did not appear to slow or change course before the impact with Lucas.

The Guardian reported that McCarty-Wroten later sparked further social media outrage when she hosted a livestream days after Lucas’ death and solicited donations on the Cash App platform that she said were meant to support her taking “mental leave” from her online content creation.