Judge's blistering attack on woman who can't stop drink-driving after she kills AGAIN in SECOND fatal crash
By Noa Halff
Daily Mail
May 31, 2025
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 just seven years
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, Pedro Carbajal, and seriously injured two others in 2021.
It comes seven years after Carvajal killed 52-year-old newspaper deliveryman Keith Davis when she sped through a red light and smashed her SUV into his small sedan.
On Friday, 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.
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, as reported by the Tampa Bay Times.
'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.
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 (pictured), and was smashed into a concrete divider
The scene of the 2021 crash is seen above. Jennifer Carvajal had been speeding on Interstate 4
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.'
Judge G. Gregory Green said he struggled to comprehend how she could commit the same deadly crime twice in her lifetime
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
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
Carvajal was arrested on April 25, 2021, after an 111 mph police chase that led to a deadly crash
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.
A picture entered into evidence showing the crash scene of the 2021 accident during the sentencing of Jennifer Carvajal
Carvajal broke down in court as she heard the impact of her actions
Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Jason Moore points to the crash on a security camera picture while on the witness stand during the sentencing of Jennifer Carvajal
A picture entered into evidence showing Carvajal in the ambulance at the crash scene
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.
2 comments:
Sounds about right to me.
Save your fruit and sugar packets. You can make Apple Jack in the toilet.
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