Fatal crash caused by man going 100 mph
Wellington resident faces charges including DUI manslaughter.
WELLINGTON — The driver who allegedly plowed into another car, and sent it into a 74-yearold Wellington man as he walked his dogs at midnight, was traveling more than 100 mph in a 40 mph zone, and was so drunk he didn’t realize he’d broken his wrist and a bone was protruding, reports show.
Jason Keenan Carter, 47, of Wellington, faces charges of DUI manslaughter, vehicular homicide, DUI causing serious bodily injury and reckless driving in the Dec. 23 death of John J. Stermer.
The sheriff ’s office has said its Fugitive Task Force arrested Carter Aug. 30, in a part of Michigan the agency has not disclosed.
Carter was booked late Tuesday at the Palm Beach County Jail. On Wednesday morning, Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Dina Keever-Agrama ordered Carter held until a hearing Friday on whether he should be held on pre-trial detention.
“He did move to Michigan, so we had to bring him back,” Assistant State Attorney Mary Ann Duggan told the judge.
She said Carter had two previous DUI arrests, in 1998 and
2008, and had six felony convictions, including for grand theft, dealing in stolen property, and forgery.
Court records in Virginia show that in 2006, Carter — then showing a home address in Flagler Beach, near Daytona Beach — pleaded guilty to a charge of a fourth DUI in a 10-year span and driving for a third time with a suspended license. He was sentenced to a year of probation in those cases, records show.
Authorities have said Stermer was struck just after midnight on Dec. 23 as he walked his three dogs on the sidewalk of Big Blue Trace, not far from Wellington Elementary School.
Reports said Carter, who was driving a 2014 Ford Mustang, sped south on Big Blue Trace and “failed to reduce his speed or take evasive action to avoid a collision” with the 2015 Jeep Wrangler driven by Miguel A. Portillo, 48, of Los Angeles.
The Mustang rear-ended the Wrangler, causing both cars to go off the road. The Wrangler went onto the sidewalk and hit Stermer and his dogs. Stermer and dogs Gracie and Bella were thrown in the air and died, according to sheriff ’s records and Stermer’s obituary.
Portillo was seriously injured in the wreck, the sheriff ’s office said. Carter sustained minor injuries.
A report said the first arriving deputy reported Carter was slurring “and seemed oblivious that his right wrist was fractured (bone protruding).” The deputy said such an injury is consistent with a driver gripping the steering wheel at impact.
The report said a blood test showed an alcohol level of 0.28, about 3½ times the threshold for impaired driving.
In March, Stermer’s widow, Dawn, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against both Carter and Portillo on behalf of herself and two adult sons.
The report said Portillo was taken to Palms West Hospital for seven broken ribs, a broken knee and ankle, and severe cuts to his forehead and the area around his eye.
It said a person identified only as “Lindsey” was taken to St. Mary’s Medical Center with a broken vertebra and a broken finger. The lawsuit identified the person as Elizabeth Anne Lyndsey, who was dating Carter and co-owned the car Carter drove. She is a defendant in the case.
Also a defendant is Johny Sanchez, who owned the car Portillo was driving. He was not at the crash.
“It is an absolutely tragic loss,” Michael Kugler, a lawyer for the widow and her children, said Wednesday. “We are doing everything we can to try to get some justice for the family, who had their patriarchuntimely taken from them right around the holidays.”
On Aug. 10, lawyers for Portillo and Sanchez offered a proposed settlement, its details not divulged, court records show. That offer is pending.
“Everyone feels terrible for the Stermer family and my client for an accident that could have been prevented,”
According to Stermer’s obituary, the Baltimore native known as ‘Jay’ was a musician who as a teenager formed the nine-piece band The Admirals, which played backup for musicians such as Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles.
Charles Cartwright, a Lake Worth lawyer for Portillo and Sanchez, said Wednesday. “We feel that (the suit) may be a formality because we don’t see any liability for our client.”
According to Stermer’s obituary, the Baltimore native known as “Jay” was a musician who as a teenager formed the nine-piece band The Admirals, which played backup for musicians such as Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles. The band was inducted into the Maryland Entertainment Hall of Fame in 2016.
Stermer and his wife moved to Florida in 1985 and opened a dry-cleaning business.