A Florida teenager who went joyriding and crashed into another vehicle, killing three women, has pleaded guilty to the charges and could face decades in prison.
Maykoll Santiesteban, 16, appeared in a Miami-Dade courtroom on Friday where he pleaded guilty to three counts each of vehicular homicide and driving without a license causing death.
He was just 15 years old when he took his father’s car out on the deadly joyride in Hialeah on April 23, 2024. Hialeah police say he was driving 80 mph in a 30 mph zone, a whopping 55 mph over the speed limit when he slammed into a parked SUV with three women inside.
Yarnia Garcia Hernandez, 39, and her aunt, Gloria Hernandez, 71, were pronounced dead at the scene. Hernandez’s 66-year-old mother, Liliana Hernandez Molina, died from her injuries in September, WPLG reported.
Family members of the victims who were in court on Friday became emotional at times, according to NBC Miami.
Bob Garcia, who lost his wife, daughter, and sister-in-law, in the crash, said nothing will bring back his family.
“I can’t kiss my wife, I can’t hug them, we can’t celebrate Christmas,” Garcia said in Spanish. “Nothing will repay what I lost.”
Garcia added that he is putting his faith in the judge when it comes to Santiesteban’s sentencing.
The teenager was charged as an adult and faces between 28 and 65 years in prison. The judge said on Friday that the teen would have to serve a minimum of 28 years in state prison.
His attorneys, however, are seeking a significantly shorter sentence.
Santiesteban will be sentenced on March 26.
