A Hialeah woman pleaded guilty this week to DUI manslaughter and related charges in connection with a wrong-way crash that killed Ezequiel Urrutia on Florida’s Turnpike in Miramar on Jan. 9, 2025.
Sunshine Perez, 46, who did not reach a deal with prosecutors before changing her plea on Thursday, faces a maximum of 34 years in prison when she is sentenced in July.
According to court records, Urrutia, an aspiring firefighter, was killed in a head-on crash with a speeding Perez, who was driving the wrong way, westbound on the eastbound leg of Florida’s Turnpike in Miramar. Perez was driving a 2010 Honda Element. Urrutia, 23, was in a 2016 Honda Civic. The two collided near mile marker 43. According to records, Urrutia died on impact.
Urrutia graduated from Miami-Palmetto Senior High School in 2020 and from the Miami Dade College Fire Academy in the same year and was working full-time as a paramedic in Cutler Bay, according to a memorial web site set up by his family.
Sentencing is set for July 24.
Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4457.Â