A 19-year-old was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Friday after pleading guilty to a 2022 crash that killed a mother of three in Oakland Park.
Jah Kobe Bessent was 15 years old at the time of the crash and was charged as an adult. He is now 19.
Bessent was also sentenced to 10 years of probation.
“I know words are not enough to heal the pain I have caused. The same is true for everyone in the car that day I injured,” Bessent read from a letter he wrote before the judge handed down his sentence.
He pleaded guilty in April to killing Maria Tellez-Valderrabano in a crash that happened while police were chasing him because he had stolen a car.
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Maria Tellez
Valderrabano’s sister says she is disappointed with the sentence.
“This is a laugh to our face, no justice for my sister,” she said. “Ten years is a joke, at least 15 years, you know.”
The incident began with a burglary at a home in Fort Lauderdale in which a white Mercedes sedan was stolen. Officers spotted the car later that morning and the Mercedes fled before it was involved in a multi-vehicle crash on the 900 block of Oakland Park Boulevard, officials said.
The crash left Tellez-Valderrabano dead and six other people hospitalized.
The 15-year-old and his then-13-year-old passenger fled the scene on foot but were caught a short time later.
A 15-year-old who was fleeing police in a stolen car when he caused a crash in Oakland Park that killed a mother of three will be charged as an adult.
“We think this is an opportunity for JahKobe to change his life and do better, and we hope that gives the family some peace and comfort in their healing process,” Bessent’s attorney said.
Bessent’s attorneys said they will not appeal the decision.