Day after graduation, 18-year-old learns fate in 100-mph crash that killed 2 Pahokee teens

WEST PALM BEACH — Just one day after graduating from high school, an 18-year-old man learned his fate on charges related to a vehicle crash that killed two other teens last year, one of them a standout football player at Pahokee High School.

Circuit Judge Sherri Collins sentenced Milton Miller of Pahokee to 10 years in prison on Thursday, May 23, after he pleaded guilty to two counts of vehicular homicide in the April 3, 2023, deaths of Jeremiah Dukes, 17, and Brandon Honeycutt, 16.

However, Miller could spend less time in prison if he complies with a court order. Collins said she will reduce his sentence to five years in prison and five of probation if he returns to court for a scheduled hearing on Aug. 15 and avoids incurring any new criminal charges before then.

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The Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office charged Miller, who was a juvenile at the time of the fatal crash, as an adult. Investigators with the county sheriff's office said Dukes and Honeycutt were passengers in a Dodge Challenger sports car driven by Miller that afternoon.

According to sheriff's accounts, Miller drove recklessly along the 3500 block of northbound State Road 715 when he lost control of the Dodge and collided with a southbound Ford F-150 pickup, injuring that vehicle's 78-year-old driver.

A report from the Dodge's event-data recorder indicated that the vehicle was traveling at 109 mph — nearly double the posted speed limit of 55 mph — just seconds before an airbag was deployed, investigators said.

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Dukes and Honeycutt both attended Pahokee High School, and administrators there posted public condolences on social media in the days after the crash. Dukes, a standout athlete, was expected to be a key contributor this past fall as a senior on the Blue Devils' football team.

Miller recently graduated from the Pahokee campus of the Everglades Preparatory Academy charter school, court records show.

He has been on in-house arrest since being taken into custody but was permitted to attend the school's commencement ceremonies on Tuesday, May 21, and Wednesday, May 22.

Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on Twitter at @JuliusWhigham. Help support our work: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: A high-speed crash killed two teens. How an 18-year-old man will pay