An Orange County judge on Tuesday sentenced Yaxiel Lebron-Flores to six years in prison after he pleaded no contest to charges stemming from a high-speed red-light crash that killed 23-year-old Christian Romero in April 2023. Flores was 15 at the time, and prosecutors say he was behind the wheel of a stolen vehicle when he ran the light and slammed into Romero’s car. Relatives who packed the courtroom said the youthful offender cap left them devastated and far from feeling justice was served.
Sentence and plea
According to FOX 35 Orlando, Flores accepted a plea deal in the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court today and received a six-year prison term. Court officials said the agreement also calls for a three-year suspension of his driver’s license after he gets out and does not include parole supervision. The judge credited Flores with time already served, which will trim the actual time he spends behind bars.
Family objects
In court, Romero’s family pushed back hard, telling the judge the punishment could never match the loss they had carried for nearly three years. They urged the court to add stricter long-term monitoring and probation, requests the judge said were off the table under the law. “The justice system has failed us,” Romero’s sister told WFTV Channel 9, which reported the family had sought a nine-year sentence, drug testing, and a permanent driver’s license suspension.
Why the sentence was limited
Florida’s Youthful Offender Act gives courts a special sentencing option for defendants who were young at the time of their crimes, sharply limiting how long they can be incarcerated and supervised. In many cases, that statute caps the total sentence at six years, a restriction prosecutors and the court said shaped the plea deal here. Officials pointed to the law’s eligibility rules and time limits as the reason they could not seek the longer term Romero’s family wanted.
Backstory and aftermath
Investigators say the crash happened on April 23, 2023, near Dean Road and State Road 408, when Flores ran a red light in a stolen SUV carrying five other teenagers and hit Romero’s vehicle as he was driving home from work. Romero’s parents, who own Romero’s Tuscany by the Sea in Flagler Beach, closed the restaurant so they could attend the hearing, local outlets reported. Family members said the long investigation only deepened their frustration, stretching out their wait for a resolution that still feels painfully incomplete.
