
Student walking to school killed by classmate's dad, FL cops say. He's sentenced
Edgardo Joel Rosado Perez, 42, was charged with vehicular homicide, failure to remain at the scene of a crash involving a death and leaving the scene of an accident involving property damage, Polk County records show.
The Lakeland Ledger reported he pleaded guilty following the incident that claimed the life of 18-year-old Zachariah Clabough and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
'I would like to apologize before the family,' Perez said in court through an interpreter, according to WTVT. 'It was not intentional. It was a bad decision that I made in my life.'
McClatchy News reached out to Perez's attorney for comment April 11 but did not immediately receive a response.
'I want Zachariah to come home, but he can't because he's dead,' said his mom, Barbara Runyon, WTVT reported. 'He's dead because Edgardo killed him.'
Perez had just dropped off his daughter at Bartow Senior High School the morning of March 27, 2024, when he got into a minor crash, McClatchy News previously reported.
Florida Highway Patrol said he didn't stop after the crash and fled at a high speed while the other driver involved started chasing him.
Clabough was walking to school when Perez blew through a stop sign and hit him at nearly 75 mph as the 18-year-old was crossing the street, according to investigators.
The force of the impact caused Perez's windshield to cave in, and the airbag deployed, state troopers said.
He's accused of not stopping then either.
Investigators said he drove home and parked his Hyundai sedan in the garage to avoid detection, then he took another car to the mall until deputies found him there and arrested him.
Family wrote in Clabough's obituary that some of his interests included Legos and playing guitar.
'Zach was enjoying life like he usually does,' his brother Hunter Clabough said, according to WTVT. 'Going to school, playing video games. He was there for everybody else. Skateboarding. Hanging out.'
Bartow Senior High School's principal, Lance Lawson, said in a statement to McClatchy News that Clabough was 'a quiet, hardworking student who was looking forward to graduation.'
Bartow is about a 40-mile drive east from Tampa.

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Fox News
12-08-2025
- Fox News
Public school teacher reveals years-long effort to expose alleged student abortion scandal
On a recent morning, Centreville High School teacher Zenaida Perez had a surprise visitor at the northern Virginia school where she teaches English as a second language: a high-powered lawyer investigating allegations that Perez had made public that a school social worker coaxed and funded a student's 2021 abortion. The Clifton school district's superintendent, Michelle Reid, responded to the allegations the next day, claiming the school system had just "learned yesterday" about the potential scandal. Last Thursday, Reid emailed Centreville High School parents, again claiming that the district had taken "immediate action to engage an external independent investigator to get all the facts." Perez's visitor was Mary McGowan, a retired lawyer from Blankingship & Keith, a longtime go-to firm for Fairfax County Public Schools. In a nearly three-hour interview, Perez told McGowan how she had blown the whistle seven times about the abortion scandal since May 2022, only to be ignored and then retaliated against. School district officials were "covering up" the alleged abortion scandal, Perez said she told McGowan. in the interview. "Your recollection is outstanding," McGowan acknowledged at one point, according to Perez. Indeed, a detailed review of hundreds of pages of documents, emails and records confirm Perez's timeline. Perez told McGowan that she issued her first warning on May 5, 2022, in a meeting with then-principal, Chad Lehman, and an assistant principal. She said that a school social worker had allegedly facilitated and financed a 17-year-old student's abortion the year before, without her guardian's knowledge. Perez said she raised her concerns a second time in a letter sent on May 13, 2022, and she met again with Lehman in November 2022 to revisit the issue a third time, confirmed by an audio recording of the meeting. FCPS policy states that "every effort shall be made to encourage and support students suspecting pregnancy to discuss their concerns with their parents or guardians." However, it does not say FCPS employees should inform parents about those conversations. "As this is an ongoing personnel matter, we are not able to comment at this time," a spokesman for Fairfax County Public Schools said when asked about Perez's account. Born in Cuba, Perez migrated to the U.S. in 1990 after earning a master's degree in teaching English as a second language, often called "ESOL." After teaching at Sarasota Public Schools in Florida, she moved to Virginia, ultimately landing a coveted job as a teacher in Fairfax County Public Schools. The high school is "majority-minority." Almost 20% of students are learning to speak English, according to school demographic data. About one in four students live in low-income homes and qualify for free or reduced-fee meals. In the spring of 2022, Perez told the school board investigator she was blindsided when Lehman asked her if she'd given a pregnancy test to a student. She hadn't, but she did learn that a teen student from Guatemala told her that the school social worker had made an appointment for the student to get an abortion at a Falls Church, Va., clinic in November 2021, and paid the expenses. In a statement written later that fall, the student detailed what allegedly happened when she saw the social worker. "She helped me with a pregnancy termination, or abortion," she wrote, according to a translation from its original Spanish. "[She] made the appointment for me at the abortion clinic in Fairfax. She paid for the procedure and kept quiet about it, not letting my family know. I was worried that my family would react very badly if they knew about my pregnancy and the abortion." "When the abortion was performed, I was only 17 years old," she concluded. The student and her guardian couldn't be reached for comment. Perez told Fox News Digital the student's guardian, an uncle, didn't know about the abortion and was "livid." A week after the May 2022 meeting with Lehman, Perez says she sent the then-principal a follow-up email, dated May 13, 2022, reiterating that the school social worker had allegedly helped the student "solve the pregnancy issue." Perez had another meeting with Lehman in November, a recording of which she shared with Fox News Digital. Perez asked what he had meant when he had previously told her the abortion allegations were "concerning." Lehman responded: "I don't remember the statement or the context of it, so I couldn't answer that question with you right now. I don't remember there being a conversation about that specifically." She reminded the principal she had repeated her concerns in a letter. When she raised her concerns again about Diaz facilitating an abortion, Lehman responded that he didn't believe the social worker in question would have arranged an abortion for a student. Julie Perry, a teacher at Centreville High School, recalled how she met Perez for the first time that fall, as Perry stood outside Room 222A on the school's second floor. It was about 7:45 a.m., as students scurried into classrooms for their first period. Perry had just run on the Republican ticket for state House of Delegates, losing in a district that is majority Democratic. "I feel strong. I have truth and God on my side." - Zenaida Perez "God bless Zenaida for fighting through this," said Perry. "What's so sad are the higher-ups. They're not concerned about the truth. They're concerned about keeping silent about these abortions." On March 7, Perez told McGowan that she raised her concerns again – now, for a sixth time – in a Zoom call with Heidi Siegmund, an attorney at McGuireWoods, a law firm based in Richmond, Va., investigating a separate issue of alleged workplace harassment at the school. On March 19, Siegmund wrote to Perez and said: "We will also make sure the Division Counsel's office is aware of your concerns," according to a copy of the email. The division counsel's office has for years hired lawyers from Blankingship & Keith as outside counsel. In May, Perez says she learned more shocking news: A teen told her that the social worker had offered to help her get an abortion when she was five months pregnant. The teen didn't have an abortion and is now a young mother, Perez said. The young mother wrote a statement about her experience, according to a copy of the letter, written in Spanish, saying a school health provider "gave me the option to have an abortion." Perez said the student told her the same social worker had given her the advice. Last week, as news of her allegations spread, Perez watched in disbelief as the school superintendent, Reid, claimed that school district officials had just learned about the concerns Perez had raised three years earlier and many times over. Early Monday morning, Perez returned to Centreville High School from summer break, armed with new resolve now that her warnings have been heard beyond Fairfax County Public Schools. "I feel strong. I have truth and God on my side," she said.


Miami Herald
11-08-2025
- Miami Herald
3-month-old endangered Florida predators — likely littermates — are found killed
Two rare Florida panther kittens that appear to be siblings were killed together by vehicle strikes outside a Naples subdivision. The pair of panthers, both 3.5-month-old females, were found dead on Davis Road the morning of Sunday, Aug. 10, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. FWC biologists said the two were killed at approximately the same time. 'Given that fact, and that they are estimated to be the same age, it makes sense that they are likely from the same litter,' lead panther biologist Dave Onorato told McClatchy News. One was found dead in the eastbound lanes of the six-lane road, and the other was found dead in the westbound lanes. They were killed just south of the Naples Heritage Golf & Country Club and another residential community on Madison Park Boulevard. Vehicle strikes are the leading cause of death of the endangered Florida panther, accounting for nearly 60% of fatalities, according to the FWC. Of the 12 panther deaths that have been documented this year, 11 have been from vehicle collisions, records show. 'As the state grows, suitable habitat for panthers and other wildlife shrinks,' biologists said. 'Florida panthers normally live in remote, undeveloped areas. But as both the number of panthers and the number of people living and recreating in Florida grows, so does the chance of an encounter with a panther.' Panthers roam across large territories that are increasingly crisscrossed by roads, with males typically having a home range of about 160 to 200 miles, while females' territory is 60 to 75 miles, experts say. Young panthers in particular are vulnerable to vehicle strikes, data panther kittens that died would likely have still been dependent on their mother for food. 'When they are about 2 months old, kittens begin to accompany their mother on hunting forays,' according to FWC biologists. 'At first she hides them nearby while she hunts. After a kill, she leads them to the site where they all feed.' While panthers may prefer remote wilderness, the location of these deaths shows the animals live near urban areas as well. The FWC recommends if you see a panther, give them space, face the animal, try to appear larger and don't run. To report an injured or dead panther, call the FWC's Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-3922.


New York Post
09-08-2025
- New York Post
Illegal immigrant driver was three times legal limit when he allegedly killed NJ mom, young daughter in fatal crash
The illegal immigrant who drove an SUV head-on into a sedan carrying a young mother and her 11-year-old daughter, killing both, had a blood alcohol level three times the legal limit, New Jersey officials revealed this week. Raul Luna-Perez had also been spotted speeding in the moments just before the fatal July 26 crash, and eyewitnesses told cops they watched his SUV pass four other vehicles before making the fifth, and fatal, attempt. 4 Dayanara Cortes and Maria Pleitez were U.S. citizens, but will be buried in El Salvador. Advertisement Luna-Perez, 43, was driving more than 60 miles an hour down a residential street in Lakewood when his Dodge Durango rammed into 42-year-old Maria Pleitez's Nissan Sentra, killing her in an instant, investigators said this week. 4 Cops say moments before the crash, Raul Luna-Perez was driving 60 miles per hour on a residential road in Lakewood. Y Smith/TLS Maria's daughter, Dayanara Cortes, 11, died moments after arriving at a nearby hospital. Advertisement The mother and daughter were on their way to Wawa for milkshakes when they were struck, Pleitez's niece, Maria del Carmen Pleitez, 39, told The Post. Dayanara's friend, also an 11-year-old girl, was in the car with them but survived. She has not been identified by police. A woman who was with Luna-Perez at the time of the crash was also injured, but was expected to recover. 4 Luna-Perez is Mexican, but authorities can't pinpoint when, how, or where he entered the U.S. Homeland Security Advertisement Luna-Perez has been illegally living in Red Bank, N.J., since early 2023, federal sources told The Post. It's unclear when and where he crossed into the US. The suspect was free to drive despite two DUI arrests in March and April and a domestic violence arrest in 2023, according to records. Luna-Perez's charges were upgraded to two counts of aggravated manslaughter and two counts of strict liability vehicular homicide Thursday after police received the results of his bloodwork, prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer confirmed. Last week, Luna-Perez was charged with two counts of vehicular homicide and one count of assault by auto. Advertisement 4 A wake for Cortes and Pleitez drew more than 150 mourners. Leonardo Munoz Luna-Perez is back in a county jail after spending the last week in an ICE detention facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey, said Billhimer, who plans to keep the accused behind bars until trial. 'Thanks to the cooperation of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Luna-Perez has been returned to Ocean County to face these upgraded charges,' Billhimer said in a statement. 'His return sends a clear message that our federal partners share in our mission to hold those individuals that commit serious crimes accountable — regardless of their immigration status.'