Teen charged as adult in crash that killed expectant mother

A Miramar teenager has been charged as an adult in connection with a crash in December that killed an expectant mother and hospitalized her 7-year-old son, who only recently regained consciousness.

Cristhian Bravo Gonzalez, now 17, crashed into the back of Cristina Hernandez’s car on the afternoon of Dec. 19 on Flamingo Road near the intersection of Somerset Boulevard while driving 113 mph and under the influence of marijuana, according to a probable cause affidavit. Hernandez, who was five weeks pregnant, did not survive.

Hernandez’s son, Jacob Estrada, suffered brain hemorrhages, broken bones and other severe injuries. His father and Hernandez’s fiance, Anthony Estrada, said at a news conference earlier this month at the Miramar Police Department that Jacob is learning how to eat and walk again.

Bravo Gonzalez was arrested Jan. 31 on 10 charges: vehicular homicide, DUI manslaughter, DUI causing seriously bodily injury, reckless driving causing serious bodily injury, driving without a license causing death, driving without a license causing serious bodily injury, two counts of DUI crash with property damage and two counts of reckless driving causing property damage.

He was 16 at the time of the crash, driving his father’s 2023 Lexus IS300 without a license, the probable cause affidavit said. His father, Jose Miguel Bravo De La Torre, 38, was also arrested and faces a charge of permitting an unauthorized operator to drive.

Bravo Gonzalez admitted to smoking marijuana 30 minutes before the crash, the affidavit said. He was transferred from the juvenile detention center to the Broward Sheriff ’s jail system Thursday, court and jail records show, and will have to surrender his passport.

He was being held in the Paul Rein Detention Facility on a $505,000 bond.

The teen’s father, De La Torre, will be arraigned on March 13. De La Torre was earlier released on bond.