Royal Palm teen sentenced in fatal BMW crash

WEST PALM BEACH — Pablo Torres stood before Circuit Judge John Kastrenakes on Tuesday morning and said it was difficult for him to comprehend that his daughter was gone.

Jacqueline Torres had so many dreams, he said through a Spanish interpreter. The 18-year-old would have graduated from high school this year, he continued.

"As a father, how I long to see her again. But I know this is no longer possible," he said.

Cedric Watson, 18, pleaded guilty to one count of vehicular homicide in the April crash that killed his passenger, Jacqueline Torres. Kastrenakes sentenced him to 15 years of probation. As part of his probation, he will serve 12 months in the Palm Beach County Jail starting in June and his driver's license will be suspended for three years.

“What a horrible thing for any parent to go through,” Kastrenakes told Torres and thanked him for coming to court.

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On April 15, 2018, Watson was driving a 2005 BMW when he lost control of the car and crashed on Belvedere Road near the South Florida Fairgrounds at about 4 a.m., according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. Investigators said the then-17-year-old driver was speeding upward of 80 mph in a 50 mph zone when he crashed into several trees, causing damage to the roof and the passenger side of the vehicle. Investigators said Torres died at the scene.

Her brother, also named Pablo Torres, previously told The Palm Beach his sister opted out of going to prom that night and instead was hanging out with Watson, who he described as a close friend. He said his sister had been looking into colleges and was working at the Mall at Wellington Green before she was killed.

Watson told investigators he rode a bike to his house, about 5 miles away, to get help. His sister brought him back to the scene, according to his arrest report. At the time, Watson did not have a driver’s license, only a learner’s permit, court records show. A learner's permit requires someone who's at least 21 years old to be in the front seat.

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Watson, who was a Royal Palm Beach High School student, was arrested four months after the crash.

In court Tuesday, Kastrenakes said as part of Watson’s probation, he must speak to schools about the dangers of reckless driving and tell his story. He said he hoped it might “prevent something horrible like this from happening again.”

"I understand you didn’t intend to hurt anyone. That’s what’s so terrible about these events," Kastrenakes told Watson. "I hope you can turn your life around."