JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Trenton Stewart suffered for 83 minutes after he was hit head-on in a wrong-way crash on Old St. Augustine Road in May 2023.
His mother, Mandi Stewart, recounted those 83 minutes in stark detail Friday during her victim impact statement at the sentencing for Ariel Monteagudo, the driver who admitted to killing her 18-year-old son on May 9, 2023.
Monteagudo, 40, was sentenced to 12 years in prison, ordered to pay Stewart’s family $25,484 in restitution and had his license permanently suspended.
During her victim impact statement, Mandi Stewart looked over at Monteagudo as she described each of the life-threatening injuries her only child suffered in the crash.
“Our child suffered 83 minutes as he fought for his life,” she told the court, describing it as the worst day of her life when she learned he hadn’t survived the crash.
The second worst day, she said, was several days later when she saw her son’s lifeless body for the first time on Mother’s Day.
“I didn’t think I was going to be able to make it that day,” Mandi Stewart said, fighting through tears. “I knew I had to see my only child in a casket on Mother’s Day.”
Mandi Stewart began her testimony Friday pointing out that Trenton was so much more than the final 83 minutes of his life.
She described her son, a beloved Creekside High School grad who played football at Stetson University, as funny, loving, determined, focused and kind. She said more than 750 people attended his funeral, which she described as the third worst day of her life.
“The defendant stole my entire universe,” she said. “Our lives are altered forever. Our family has received a lifelong sentence.”
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She said 12 years in prison is not true justice for her son.
“It’s a slap in the face, but I appreciate it’s the best that we can do at this point,” Mandi Stewart said.
It’s the second time Monteagudo will be behind bars for killing someone in a crash. He previously served 10 years for a vehicular homicide charge in Broward County.
The family of Monteagudo’s first victim was in court Friday to support Trenton Stewart’s loved ones.
“It’s very unusual to see a repeat offender on a vehicular homicide charge,” Judge Jeb T. Branham said as he told Monteagudo that he would never be able to legally drive again.
Court documents show that on May 9, 2023, Trenton Stewart was headed east on Old St. Augustine Road when Monteagudo, who was going the wrong way at 100 mph in a 45 mph zone, slammed into Stewart’s SUV.
The SUV flipped 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 to celebrate Mother’s Day weekend with his family.
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.