Latest news with #HillsboroughCircuit
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Judge's blistering attack on woman who can't stop drink-driving after she kills AGAIN in SECOND fatal crash
A Florida judge delivered a blistering courtroom attack on a repeat drunk driver who killed her own cousin in a horror crash - her second fatal drink-driving conviction in seven years. Jennifer Carvajal, 28, has been sentenced to 67 years in prison for causing a crash that killed her own cousin and seriously injured two others in 2021. The Plant City, Florida, woman wept and buried her face as a judge delivered a scathing verdict that will keep her locked up until her late 70s, as reported by the Tampa Bay Times. The crash killed Pedro Carbajal and seriously injured two other people near Interstate 4. Judge G. Gregory Green said he struggled to comprehend how she could commit the same deadly crime twice in her lifetime. 'It is almost as if instead of taking every step to avoid putting yourself in that situation again, you took steps to ensure that it happened,' the Hillsborough Circuit judge told the repeat offender. 'And that is incomprehensible for this court,' he added. The first time Carvajal drove drunk and killed someone in 2014, she received just five years in prison. The second time, she got two-thirds of a century behind bars. Carvajal reportedly wept in court throughout the four-hour sentencing hearing -repeatedly apologizing to her dead cousin's devastated family. 'No matter how many sorrys I say to each of you, or even him, I could never forgive myself,' Carvajal said, as reported by the outlet. The court heard how Carvajal had a traumatic childhood, including sexual abuse by male relatives that only came to light when she was diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease at age nine. She never received proper mental health treatment for what was later identified as post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. This led her to contemplate suicide and self-harm with broken glass. By age 11, she was already drinking beer and smoking weed at school as she desperately tried to cope with her psychological pain through alcohol abuse, her attorney told the court. Her own father was arrested when she was 11 for raping an older female relative and spent five years in prison before he was deported to Mexico, the Tampa Bay Times revealed. She was hospitalized for two suicide attempts, according to court records obtained by the outlet. 'Jennifer committed these acts because she's broken,' said Assistant Public Defender Nicole Engebretsen. 'She was a broken child that never healed.' Carvajal has a traumatic childhood, including sexual abuse by male relatives that only came to light when she was diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease at age nine But prosecutors didn't show mercy for the repeat killer. 'Two people have lost their lives at the hands of Jennifer Carvajal,' Assistant State Attorney Dawn Hart told the cour5t. 'This community is not safe if Miss Carvajal is ever allowed back in society.' Carvajal was arrested on April 25, 2021, after an 111 mph police chase that led to a deadly crash. When the trooper tried to pull her over, Carvajal made a hard right turn that sent the Hyundai Elantra down an embankment before going airborne and hitting a concrete light pole and a palm tree. It then overturned in the parking lot of a car dealership. Carvajal's cousin Pedro Carbajal, 22, was killed when he was ejected from the back seat of the car. Pedro's girlfriend Lexcia Gonzalez, 20, was also ejected from the back seat and broke both of her legs. A front seat passenger, 19-year-old Grady Ramirez, had 'incapacitating' injuries. When asked by the trooper who was driving the car, Gonzalez pointed to Carvajal - who denied she was the driver. The car was registered to Gonzalez. Carvajal's first deadly crash happened around 6.30am on February 5, 2014, when she was speeding down Alexander Street at 55mph in a gold Lincoln Navigator with her headlights off. She tore through a red light and plowed into a black Toyota Echo. The Toyota was being driven by a newspaper deliveryman, 52-year-old Keith Allen Davis, and was smashed into a concrete divider. Carvajal, who was then 16 years old, told a bystander that she had just received her learner's permit and didn't have insurance, according to the Tampa Bay Times. 'I am sorry, it was my fault,' Carvajal said as Davis lay on the ground bleeding and unconscious. Davis was taken a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. Cops found an empty can of Four Loko, a cheap malt liquor favored by young partygoers, with an empty beer can and an empty bottle of Patron tequila, the outlet reported. Her blood content was measured at .13 - above the legal limit of .08. Carvajal pleaded no contest to charges of DUI manslaughter in an adult court and faced sentencing after she turned 18 years old.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Plant City woman gets 67 years for 2nd fatal drunk driving crash
TAMPA — The Plant City woman who for the second time in her life admitted driving drunk and causing a crash that killed someone should serve 67 years in prison, a judge ruled Friday. Jennifer Carvajal wept and buried her face behind her long black locks throughout a three-hour sentencing hearing. She apologized repeatedly to the family of Pedro Carbajal, her cousin who was killed in the crash off Interstate 4, and two others who were seriously injured. 'No matter how many sorrys I say to each of you, or even him, I could never forgive myself,' Carvajal said. Hillsborough Circuit Judge G. Gregory Green said he struggled to comprehend how Carvajal, 28, for the second in her life could be accused of the same deadly crime. 'It is almost as if instead of taking every step to avoid putting yourself in that situation again, you took steps to ensure that it happened,' Green told Carvajal. 'And that is incomprehensible for this court.' The sentence dwarfed the five-year term Carvajal previously served the first time she was convicted of DUI manslaughter. In that case, and on Friday, too, judges heard testimony about Carvajal's horrific childhood, which included sexual abuse at the hands of male relatives. The abuse only came to light after Carvajal, at age 9, was diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease, a social worker testified. She never received substantial mental health treatment for what was later pegged as post traumatic stress disorder and depression. At age 11, she was caught drinking beer in school. She contemplated suicide and was known to harm herself with broken glass. This time around, though, there was little notion that the horrors of Carvajal's past should ensure anything but a lengthy prison sentence. 'Two people have lost their lives at the hands of Jennifer Carvajal,' Assistant State Attorney Dawn Hart said in court. 'This community is not safe if Miss Carvajal is ever allowed back in society.' A packed courtroom heard the details of what led up to the crash from one of the survivors. Lexcia Gonzalez was Pedro Carbajal's girlfriend. They had a son named Julian. On the witness stand, she said she knew Jennifer Carvajal, but not well. She knew she had been to prison. On the night of April 24, 2021, the three of them met up for a family gathering at Pedro's grandfather's home in Plant City. Another cousin, Grady Ramirez, was there too. Late that night, they left in Gonzalez's car, a silver Hyundai Elantra. They first went to the Twilight Zone Lounge, a liquor store near the Hillsborough County line. They bought a bottle of Hennessey cognac. They later went to a Circle K store and bought Polar Pops to mix the liquor. They spent the evening drinking, hanging out at a Waffle House, alternating between the Polar Pops and taking swigs directly from the Hennessey bottle. Late that night, they went to another Circle K to use a restroom. While they were there, Carvajal asked Gonzalez if she could drive. 'I kind of ignored it the first time,' Gonzalez testified. 'She asked again.' When they left, Gonzalez was the front passenger. The two men sat in the back seat. Carvajal drove. They headed toward Ybor City. As they moved to get onto Interstate 4, Gonzalez noticed Carvajal having trouble steering. On the highway, she pressed the gas. Gonzalez watched her use her phone to take a SnapChat video of the Speedometer, showing the car topping 100 mph. Blue lights came on behind them. Gonzalez told Carvajal to slow down. 'She started panicking,' Gonzalez said. 'And saying that she didn't want to go back to jail.' Carvajal turned the wheel hard. The car went into a ditch, then up an embankment, then over a fence into the parking lot of the Gator Ford auto dealership. It overturned, smashed into a truck and knocked down a concrete pole and a palm tree. Gonzalez blacked out. When she awoke, she was on the pavement. She felt a burning pain in her body. Both her thighs were broken. Pedro Carbajal lay on a patch of grass bleeding from his head, his legs pinned beneath the car's crumpled metal. Jennifer Carvajal crawled out of the wreckage and went to him. She tried to pull him out and began to cry, Gonzalez said. She told Gonzalez: Tell them you were driving. She walked to a fence line that bordered the interstate. A road ranger who'd responded to the crash and two bystanders encountered her there. 'I'm on papers,' the ranger heard her say. 'I have a curfew. I'm not even supposed to be driving.' She said she needed to leave. Soon, though, Florida Highway Patrol troopers arrived. They noticed bruising on Carvajal's left shoulder extending down toward her waist. The driver's seat belt in the car was extended; none of the other belts had been used. An FDLE analyst determined that Carvajal's blood alcohol content at the time of the crash was between .10 and .14, above the .08 limit at which the state presumes impairment. A decade ago, Carvajal was accused of causing the death of a man named Keith Allen Davis. He was delivering copies of the Tampa Tribune early one morning in February 2014. As the sun rose, he moved his black Toyota Echo onto North Alexander Street. Carvajal at that same moment sped at 55 mph through a red light in an SUV, plowing into his car. Davis was declared dead at a hospital. Carvajal was days away from her 17th birthday when that happened. This is a developing story. Check back with for updates.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hillsborough Judge Nancy Jacobs to resign after panel recommends removal
TAMPA — Hillsborough Circuit Judge Nancy Jacobs will resign from the bench at the end of May, she announced Friday, weeks after a state disciplinary panel recommended she be removed from office. The panel of the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission found that Jacobs violated judicial canons — ethical rules that govern the conduct of judges and those running for the bench — in her bitterly contested 2022 campaign against Judge Jared Smith. The race, in which abortion rights became a major issue, featured hints of political partisanship, which is unusual for a Florida judicial contest. The panel concluded that Jacobs' conduct made her unfit for office. Her resignation, which is effective May 31, comes as the Florida Supreme Court weighed whether to adopt the panel's recommendations. 'I step aside with my integrity intact and my voice unwavering,' Jacobs said in a statement Friday. 'Serving as a judge has been one of the greatest honors of my professional life. I am not perfect but I have always strived to uphold the Constitution, ensure equal justice under law, and protect the rights of those who come before the court. I remain committed to the rule of law, to civil liberties, and to the idea that no person should be silenced for speaking out on matters of public concern. I thank the voters of Hillsborough County for allowing me to serve.' This is a developing story. Stay with for updates.
