JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The driver accused of killing an 18-year-old Creekside High School grad in a wrong-way head-on crash in 2023 has pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide.
Ariel Monteagudo, 40, admitted to slamming his Mercedes head-on into Trenton Stewart’s trailblazer on Old St. Augustine Road.
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Monteagudo, who served 10 years for a vehicular homicide charge in Broward County, was denied a bond reduction motion last December.
He will now face eight to 12 years in Florida State Prison followed by probation as part of the negotiated guilty plea.
“To know that this, the defendant has now killed two people and hurt countless individuals, and the best that I can do to try to get what we would consider justice in the criminal justice system at this point is only 15 years is really hard to process and to accept,” Mandi Stewart, Trenton Stewart’s mother, told News4JAX.
Mandi Stewart said agreeing to a plea deal for Monteagudo was not an easy decision.
“This is something that has been probably the hardest decision that we’ve had to make since we lost Trenton on May 9, 2023. The max sentencing for this guy’s second vehicular homicide is only 15 years,” Mandi Stewart said. “While it was a very difficult decision for us, we did feel like it was the right one.”
Mandi Stewart walked us through a room she created in honor of her son Trenton Stewart. She said this room was created as a way to find comfort and dwell on the memories they shared. Watch the video below.
MORE | ‘Most incredible kid’: Friends, family remember Creekside grad Trenton Stewart after fatal crash
Court documents show that on May 9, 2023, Stewart was headed east on Old St. Augustine Road when Monteagudo, who was going the wrong way at 100 mph in a 45 mph, slammed into his SUV. The vehicle went flipping and hit a tree 138 feet from the impact site.
Jacksonville Fire and Rescue worked against the clock to cut Stewart free from his car, but he died from his injuries at the hospital.
Monteagudo, who was also severely injured in the crash, was arrested by the United States Marshals Fugitive Task Force in November 2023, nearly six months after the crash that took Stewart’s life.
Mandi Stewart told News4JAX just after the crash that her son was just 2 miles away from home when he was killed. He was visiting home on summer break from Stetson University.
Stewart’s parents said every time they arrive at a court hearing, they’re honoring their son’s memory.
“Just leaving the world a better place than we found it,” Mandi Stewart said. “Keeping our focus on scholarships and giving back to the community because that’s exactly what he would be doing.”
The Trenton Stewart Foundation has a goal of advocating for a law in his memory that would require an automatic increase in sentencing guidelines for repeat offenders of vehicular homicide and/or DUI manslaughter.
Mandi Stewart said her sentence is lifelong and every day has been a living nightmare, but hopes Monteagudo’s guilty plea will give her and her family time to focus on honoring her son’s memory.
“There will never be full healing, you know, with the loss of Trenton, but having an opportunity to not be pulled back into the courtroom over and over again will hopefully allow us an opportunity to focus on his memory and be able to feel his presence a little bit more,” Mandi Stewart said.
A hearing to determine when Monteagudo will be sentenced was set for Dec. 16.