15-year-old boy charged as adult in deaths of two women after Hialeah joyride crash
A 15-year-old boy who police say killed two women and critically injured a third in a crash in Hialeah while driving his parent’s car without permission has been charged as an adult.
Maykoll Santiesteban, under house arrest, was taken into custody in Miami-Dade court Tuesday wearing a Spider-Man T-shirt and sweatpants. He was then transferred to the Metrowest Detention Center near Doral.
Under Florida law, children charged as adults must await trial in an adult jail. On Wednesday, he entered a plea of not guilty with his attorney, Omar Lopez.
“We are very conscious and aware of the pain that family is going through,” Lopez said. ”[Santiesteban’s] family is very aware that their son made a choice that resulted in the death of two women.”
Around 8 p.m. April 23, Sentiesteban was driving his sister’s Nissan Murano with two other teens in the back seat at 83 mph in a 30 mph zone, going south on Southeast Fifth Avenue, as a Toyota Corolla was heading east on Southeast Fourth Street, Hialeah police said in his arrest report.
As the Corolla crossed the intersection after stopping at a stop sign, Sentiesteban T-boned it, police said. The Murano then crashed into an empty car parked on a swale and the Corolla side-swiped another unoccupied vehicle before crashing into a wooden fence.
A surveillance camera recorded the collision, police said.
Yarnia Garcia Hernandez, 39, and her aunt, 53-year-old Gloria Hernandez, were in the Corolla’s front seats and died at the scene. Hernandez’s mother, 66-year-old Liliana Hernandez Molina, was in the back seat and was airlifted in critical condition to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center.
Sentiesteban and one of his passengers were also taken to the hospital. The Hialeah resident, police said, did not have a driver’s license and had taken his parents’ car keys without permission.
After obtaining a search warrant for the Murano’s black box, the police determined Sentiesteban was driving at 83 mph two seconds before the crash.
Lopez told the Herald the black box is a key piece of evidence that he’s waiting to obtain and analyze for himself.
Santiesteban is charged with two counts of reckless vehicular homicide, reckless driving with serious injury and three counts of driving without a license with serious injury.
This story was originally published May 15, 2024 at 1:29 PM.
