Cedar Rapids police say driver was drunk when he killed pedestrian

CEDAR RAPIDS — A mother of three daughters was killed — and her husband of 35 years injured — Sunday afternoon just outside their southeast Cedar Rapids home by a driver police say was drunk and fled the scene.

Bonnie Stover, whose family said she worked at Linn Area Credit Union and volunteered at various organizations throughout Cedar Rapids, died after being struck about 4:45 p.m. Sunday in the 1400 block of Memorial Drive SE, according to police.

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“She does not deserve this. She seriously was like a saint. I’ve always said that she was like a saint on this earth. She was the nicest person,” said Molly Stover, one of her daughters.

“She always was so positive, so forgiving. She always saw the best in everybody. She had never had a negative thing to say about anybody, ever. She just loved everybody. She loved life.”

Police said the crash was caught on video surveillance and they were able to identify the sport utility vehicle involved. Investigators found it parked about a mile away, at the home of Kyle Kubite, 45, of 2232 Pine Ave. SE.

Kubite was arrested on counts of vehicular homicide while intoxicated, leaving the scene of a personal injury accident and leaving the scene of a fatality accident. He remained Monday in the Linn County Jail.

The Stovers were taken to UnityPoint Health-St. Luke’s Hospital, where Bonnie was pronounced dead. Shawn remained is in the hospital with an ankle injury, which will require surgery, Molly said.

“Physically, I guess he’s doing OK. But he’s really upset and his heart is broken, and he just doesn’t know how he’s going to continue on,” she said.

A silver SUV hit the Stovers, according to a criminal complaint. Police located it and contacted Kubite, who they said appeared to be under the influence of alcohol. Police said they also spoke to people who had talked with Kubite before and after the crash, who confirmed he had the SUV in his possession and that he had seemed intoxicated.

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“The defendant told one of the witnesses who saw him in person after the hit and run incident, and who believed him to be intoxicated, that he had hit someone on Memorial Dr. and that he had not stopped to help and that he was going to prison,” the criminal complaint states.

Kubite was uninjured, according to police.

Court records show prosecutors have requested subpoenas be issued to two bars for any video surveillance showing Kubite and receipts showing food and beverage purchases from him and companions on Sunday.

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Molly Stover said she was on her way Sunday night to her parents’ house when her sister called to say she’d seen a Facebook post about a possibly fatal crash in the area. Molly and her boyfriend were already almost there because the family had been planning to get together for pizza that evening.

“We got to my parents’ house, and they had the road blocked off. We walked up the street to Memorial and I just kept thinking that I would see my mom and dad talking to the other neighbors,” Molly said.

“I thought my mom was probably helping the victim because that was just the type of person she was, but then I realized that they weren’t there. And I saw my mom’s shoes in the road.”

She and her family were directed by police to go to St. Luke’s Hospital, where they were informed about her mother’s death.

The couple met when they were students at North Iowa Area Community College in Mason City. They recently celebrated their 35-year wedding anniversary with their three daughters, Molly said.

Family was very important to Bonnie and she often went out of her way to take care of those that needed her, including her mother and Shawn’s mother as they both have gotten older, according to Molly.

“My grandma owned a restaurant in Ainsworth and my mom was always down there helping them out,” Molly said. “She would have been a great grandma if she would have ever gotten the chance.”