Two-Year Investigation By Melbourne Police Leads to Arrest in Melbourne Fatal Pedestrian Hit-and-Run Crash

62-year-old Michael J. Forrest of Melbourne Beach was killed after being struck by a white SUV in 2023

BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – After more than two years of investigation, Melbourne Police have arrested a suspect in connection with a deadly hit-and-run crash that occurred in March 2023 on Babcock Street.

According to the Melbourne Police Department, officers responded to a vehicle-versus-pedestrian crash on March 6, 2023, near Babcock Street and Seminole Avenue.

When officers arrived, they found 62-year-old Michael J. Forrest of Melbourne Beach suffering from severe injuries after being struck by a white SUV traveling northbound on Babcock Street.

Forrest was taken to Holmes Regional Medical Center, where he later died from his injuries.

Police said the SUV initially stopped but then fled the scene without providing aid; it was last seen traveling westbound on Seminole Avenue.

Investigators later determined that the suspect vehicle was a 2011–2016 white Jeep Compass, believed to have sustained damage to the driver’s side fog light and headlight.

After an extensive and detailed Traffic Homicide Investigation — which included forensic analysis, video evidence, and multiple interviews — detectives identified the driver as 48-year-old Paul William Torres of Palm Bay, the owner of a 2016 white Jeep Compass.

On October 30, 2025, a warrant was issued for Torres’s arrest on charges of Leaving the Scene of a Crash with Death and Driving with a Suspended License with Death. The first charge carries a no-bond status pending Torres’s initial court appearance.

Torres was taken into custody without incident on November 3, 2025, and turned over to the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office.

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