He’s 16 and accused of a Miami crash that killed 4. Why he must stay in jail for now

On New Year’s morning, Alex Garcia got behind the wheel of his mother’s Chevrolet Tahoe, took a friend home around 3:30 a.m. and then hit the gas, reaching a staggering 111 miles per hour on West Flagler Street. He was just 16 years old, held only a learner’s permit and was not allowed to drive unsupervised at that hour.

The Tahoe smashed into a turning Hyundai Elantra with such violent force that the two vehicles skidded nearly 300 feet. All four young people in the Elantra died, the collision so violent that one passenger was ejected through the windshield, even though everyone in the car was wearing seat belts. To boot, prosecutors say, Garcia was drunk and high.

It was these devastating facts of the crash that led a Miami-Dade judge on Friday to order Garcia be held in jail before his trial, even though the teen has no earlier criminal history, and volunteered to be put on closely supervised house arrest.

The decision capped a detention hearing, held over five days, that proved emotionally wrenching for friends and family on both sides. The move by prosecutors to keep Garcia jailed was unusual — people charged with DUI manslaughter are generally afforded bond, let alone someone so young and with no criminal history.

But with four people dead, Circuit Judge Lody Jean ruled Garcia was a “danger to the community.”

“The weight of the evidence against the defendant is strong,” Jean told nearly 200 people who logged onto a Zoom hearing on Friday. “The court finds the nature and circumstances of the offense are egregious, shocking and ... unbelievably tragic.”

Defense lawyer Brian Kirlew was stunned by the decision, and said he will consider an appeal. Kirlew said state law only allows “limited” circumstances for someone to be held no-bond on a DUI manslaughter case, and he did not believe prosecutors met that burden.

“Despite the tragedy and loss of life and the pain the community feels, the constitution and the law is clear: that a person accused of DUI manslaughter is entitled to a bond,” Kirlew said. “He’s 16 and has no criminal history. There are reasonable means available to the court to secure the safety of the community and ensure he appears for trial.”

The deaths of four young people in their 20s was stunning, even in South Florida, where traffic fatalities unfold with regularity.

The driver of the Elantra was Yuhlia Gelats, 21, a Florida International University senior who was acting as a designated driver for her friends on New Year’s. Her passengers, boyfriend Christian Mohip, 22, and their friends, Andreas Zacharias and Jenser Salazar, both 21, all died in the crash.

At the detention hearing, which began Monday, the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s office laid out its evidence.

Garcia had been with his friends to play video games that night at his house nearby. He’d driven a friend home and was returning to his family’s house when the crash happened in front of a Shell gas station. In the Tahoe, he had two buddies as passengers.

The crash was witnessed by a Miami-Dade police officer, Britney Lozada, who had seen the speeding Tahoe and had made a U-turn to try and pull it over before. But the Tahoe, headed east, barreled through the intersection, smashing into the Elantra as it tried to turn onto Flagler from 79th Avenue.

“It was a loud bang, a loud crunch. You could hear things hitting the ground,” Lozada testified Monday.

Video surveillance played during the hearing from the Shell station showed the speeding car from multiple angles, although the moment of impact is not clear.

“The video is violent. It is dramatic,” prosecutor Genevieve Valle said. “It is proof of the recklessness of the defendant.”

When she ran to the Tahoe, Lozada found Garcia and his two passengers still inside. The officer’s body-worn camera revealed screams coming from inside the Tahoe. One passenger called Garcia a “dumb ass.”

“I’m so sorry guys,” Garcia said on the body cam footage. “I was just trying to home.”

Florida Highway Patrol Cpl. Christine Gracey, the lead investigator, testified that when she arrived to the crash scene, Garcia’s mother soon showed up. She admitted giving her son the keys to the car but refused to say that he’d stolen the Tahoe.

“She said she provided the keys so he could sit in the car and listen to music,” Gracey said.

A blood test revealed that Garcia — some two hours after the crash — had a blood-alcohol content level of .06, lower than the legal limit for an adult. But prosecutors charged him with DUI manslaughter because there was also evidence of marijuana in his blood.

Kirlew, the defense lawyer, argued there was no way to know when he smoked and whether it impaired him at the time of the crash.

“There is no evidence presented of when he smoked marijuana,” Kirlew said. “If he smoked a week ago, or three days ago, it would have been in his blood.”

During this week’s hearing, Kirlew asked the judge to allow Garcia to live with his aunt and grandmother on house arrest. The proposal: Garcia would remain on house arrest to wear a special bracelet that monitors whether he consumes any alcohol. Garcia, a student and quarterback at South Miami High, would have been allowed to resume classes.

“You can rest assured, if he’s under my roof he won’t be a problem,” his aunt, Marta Mederos, testified Friday. “I’m a mother and grandmother. I know what it is to educate and raise a child.”

The prosecutors were unswayed.

“This case is in a word, extraordinary,” Valle told the judge. “The loss of life is unprecedented.”

This story was originally published April 30, 2021 at 1:31 PM.