Teen gets 20 years in fatal Boca crash
WEST PALM BEACH — I f J o h n Aceves had one wish, aside from bringing his wife back to life, it would be for Wesley Brown to have her face tattooed on his forehead so he could see it every time he looked into a mirror.
“That way, every day, you could see the life you took, and know what you’ve done to our family,” Aceves said Thursday, choking back tears in a Palm Beach County courtroom.
Ac e v e s t o l d C i r c u i t J u d g e Charles Burton that he wished the judge could give Brown the death penalty, or at least a life sentence, for causing the November 2015 Boca Raton crash that killed Wendy Harris-Aceves.
Instead, Burton sentenced the 16-year-old to 20 years in prison on charges of vehicular homicide and fleeing and eluding.
The sentence Thursday came in spite of an issue that marked what could have been a second delay in a sentencing hearing that began last month.
The Deerfield Beach teen was just 15 when he sped in what turned out to be a stolen Ford Mustang through a red light on Palmetto Park Road and slammed into Harris-Aceves’ Honda Pilot.
Harris-Aceves was on her way to pick up her daughter, Ciara, from her high school homecoming dance.
Before Burton handed out the sentence, Public Defender Carey Haughwout tried unsuccessfully to get Burton to move the case back to juvenile court, saying prosecutors had no authorit y to charge him as an adult. But Burton said that after two trials — one that ended in a hung jury and a second one in February that resulted in his conviction — the defense’s objection was too late.
Burton also rejected a request to sentence Brown as a youthful offender, which would have capped his sentence at six years.
Though Harris-Aceves’ family said Brown never showed that he was sorry for killing her, he turned and addressed them in a short speech.
“I know I don’t show remorse, but I think about it every day in my cell,” Brown said.