HIALEAH, FLA. (WSVN) - A 15-year-old driver will be charged as an adult in connection to the fatal Hialeah crash that left two women dead and sent another to the hospital.
Maykoll Santiesteban is facing multiple charges, including two counts of vehicular manslaughter and three counts of driving without a license.
“State Attorney’s Office has decided to charge Maykoll Santiesteban with two counts of vehicular manslaughter, that’s vehicular homicide, and three counts of driving without a license causing death or bodily injury,” said Hialeah Police Lt. Eddie Rodriguez.
Seconds before Tuesday night’s crash, police said, the teen was speeding in his father’s Nissan car.
“The black box shows that, just two seconds prior to impact, he was traveling at 83 miles an hour in a zone where it was only for 30 miles an hour,” said Rodriguez.
The crash occurred near Southeast Fourth Street and Fifth Avenue, at around 8 p.m.
Detectives said the teen took his father’s car out for a joyride with two 15-year-old friends.
Police have confirmed the identities of the adults in the other vehicle.
Yarnia Garcia Hernandez, 39, was in the car with her aunt, 71-year-old Gloria Hernandez. Both died as a result of the crash. They were riding in the front.
Santiesteban was traveling southbound at high rates of speed with no stop sign. According to reports, the teen said Hernandez did not stop.
But police said video obtained by them shows that Hernandez’s car entered the roadway at a cross street after stopping at a stop sign and did not run it.
“In the video, it does clearly show that they stopped at the stop sign for more than a second, but either way, the vehicle that is traveling southbound is the vehicle that has the right of way. After stopping, she proceeds to go forward, and that’s when the impact occurred,” said Rodriguez.
Yaima Pimenta, a neighbor who ran to the scene to help the three woman in the car, said she heard an explosion.
“Something exploded, I don’t know,” she said. “I felt it. It was traumatic, I couldn’t sleep.”
Hernandez’s mother, 65-year-old Liliana Hernandez Molina, remains in critical condition at Jackson Memorial Hospital Ryder Trauma Center.
Two other teens were in the car with the teen driver. Their information has not been released.
Investigators said there could be fault on both sides, but that is under investigation.
The victim’s family did not want to speak on camera but said they will hold a news conference on Friday to make sure the teen driver pays for what he did.
Police said Santiesteban could face up to 45 years in jail.
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