Darius Lawshea appears in court for his sentencing on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. Lawshea was convicted of sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl.
NBC6
A Miami Gardens track coach convicted of sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl — and accused of molesting several other young girls — heard a Miami judge deliver his fate on Tuesday.
Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Andrea Ricker Wolfson sentenced Darius Lawshea to 50 years in state prison followed by 10 years of sex offender probation.
For Wolfson, testimony in the trial showed Lawshea’s “egregious manipulation” of a young girl who believed he was the “key to her future.” A six-person jury took three hours on Feb. 6 to find the Miami Gardens Xpress track club founder guilty.
READ MORE: Miami Gardens track coach sexually abused teen athlete, jury says
“Quite frankly, it sickens me,” the judge said.
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FILE – Judge Andrea Wolfson during court on Tuesday, June 24, 2025 at the Miami-Dade criminal courthouse in downtown Miami, Fla. Alie Skowronski askowronski@miamiherald.com
Also on Tuesday, Lawshea was going to plead guilty to six other cases in exchange for a 25-year prison sentence. But as Wolfson was taking Lawshea’s plea, he glanced at his family, and in tears said he was not guilty. The victims in the cases were all student-athletes in his track and field program, court records show.
The first victim to come forward said she was abused in 2010 but didn’t report the abuse to police until a decade later because “she was fearful because Mr. Lawshea was loved by everyone in the community and she didn’t want to get into trouble.” She said she was pushed to report the abuse after discovering that Lawshea also molested her younger sister.
Victims speak out
Facing the judge, one of the victims said Lawshea’s track program, a place where some of the best runners in South Florida trained, became her home away from home. But that changed when Lawshea showed extra interest in her.
“Now I understand when he said I was special, he meant something completely different,” she said.
Darius Lawshea is fingerprinted in court after his sentencing on Tuesday, March 24, 2026. Lawshea was convicted of sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl. NBC6
The victim said she “watched her innocence taken by someone who was supposed to guide her.”
“A real coach protects you. A real coach respects boundaries. A real coach does not abuse power … for their own benefit,” the victim said.
For the victim, the track field once felt like freedom, but it devolved into a place where she would have panic attacks. Despite her deep lasting pain, she still runs.
“I force myself to keep running … because I refused to let him take that from me,” the victim said.
Prosecutor Lily Wisset read statements from several victims who couldn’t be present in court. The girls said coming forward was the “hardest thing [they] had done” but necessary so other girls wouldn’t have to suffer at Lawshea’s hands.
Lawshea “took away a place that should have been safe,” Wisset read.
Lawshea, too, addressed the court — going on a lengthy monologue about how his arrest changed his life and how he had dedicated himself to being a track coach. He denied sexually abusing any of the girls.
Several of Lawshea’s loved ones, including his wife of 16 years and his godmother, begged the judge to have mercy on the coach.
The judge set a plea hearing for May 12.
Darius Lawshea Miami-Dade Corrections
Miami Herald
Grethel covers courts and the criminal justice system for the Miami Herald. She graduated from the University of Florida (Go Gators!), speaks Spanish and Arabic and loves animals, traveling, basketball and good storytelling. Grethel also attends law school part time.