Teen, father duo arrested in Broward crash that killed pregnant ICU nurse, injured her son
Police on Thursday announced the arrest of a 16-year-old and his father after detectives say the unlicensed teen was driving a brand new Lexus at 113 mph and under the influence of marijuana on a South Florida road when he crashed into another vehicle last year, killing an expecting ICU nurse and critically injuring her 7-year-old son.
The announcement was made during a press conference at the Miramar Police Department headquarters in Broward County.
The teen driver, whom the Miami Herald isn’t naming because he is a minor, faces a slew of charges, including vehicular homicide, DUI manslaughter, reckless driving causing serious bodily injury and driving without a license causing death. A decision has not yet been made whether to charge the boy as an adult, the Broward State Attorney’s Office told the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
His 38-year-old father, Jose Miguel Bravo De La Torre, who owns the 2023 Lexus IS300, was charged with permitting an unauthorized operator to drive.
Cristina Marie Hernandez, 30, and her unborn baby, died as a result of the crash. Her son Jacob Estrada, who remains in the intensive care unit of Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital as of Thursday, sustained brain hemorrhages, a liver laceration and several bone fractures.
According to investigators, the teen was speeding in a 45 mph zone when he crashed into the rear of Hernandez’s Volkswagen Jetta on Flamingo Road near the intersection with Somerset Boulevard in Miramar on Dec. 19, 2022. Police say Hernandez had just picked up her second grader from dismissal at nearby Somerset Academy Miramar.
The teen told police that evening that he had been vaping pot half an hour before the crash. A toxicology laboratory report later revealed that his blood tested positive for THC, the chemical responsible for most of marijuana’s psychological effects. He was arrested Jan. 31 and his father on Feb. 7.
At the press conference, Hernandez’s fiancé, Anthony Estrada, said his son is still on the road to recovery 52 days after the crash.
“My son is fighting for his life because some kid and his family were irresponsible and decided to ruin our family,” Estrada told reporters.
Estrada said it wasn’t easy to tell his son that his mother died.
“I did tell him about his mom, which was the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life,” Estrada said. “I tell him every night that it’s OK, mom is with us.”
“He knows she is in heaven and she is his angel now,” he added.
