A Broward County judge sentenced 19-year-old Jah'kobe Bessent to 10 years in prison Thursday for his role in a 2022 stolen-car pursuit that ended in a crash killing 35-year-old Maria Tellez-Valderrabano, a mother of three. Bessent, who was 15 at the time of the crash, pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges tied to causing the fatal wreck and fleeing the scene.
According to WSVN, Bessent and another boy broke into a home, stole two cars, and later ditched one of them before leading police on a high-speed pursuit that ended in the fatal crash. In addition to the prison term, Bessent was sentenced to 10 years of probation to be served after his release, and his driver's license will be revoked for 10 years once his sentence is complete.
A Crime Spree That Began in a Sleeping Household
The chain of events traces back to August 28, 2022, when 15-year-old Bessent and a 13-year-old accomplice broke into a Fort Lauderdale residence while the homeowners slept and stole a white Mercedes-Benz SUV, according to Local 10 News. That stolen SUV became the vehicle at the center of the pursuit that followed. The Broward Sheriff's Office provided aerial helicopter video showing two people running from the scene in the crash's aftermath, and the court was also shown bodycam footage of the wreckage.
The pursuit ended at Oakland Park Boulevard and Northwest Ninth Avenue, where the stolen Mercedes collided with two other vehicles, killing Tellez-Valderrabano and injuring five other people, including a pregnant woman, per the same Local 10 News account. Tellez-Valderrabano, born in Peru and a 2003 immigrant to Florida, was a graduate of Nova High School and was laid to rest on September 12, 2022, at Our Lady Queen of Heaven Catholic Church in North Lauderdale, according to CBS Miami.
Family Speaks of a Loss That Never Fades
Tellez-Valderrabano's children addressed the court during sentencing. Her daughter, Samantha Cruz, said no amount of words could describe losing her mother, while her son, Michael Tellez Féria, told the court he has thought about his mother every day since the crash, according to WSVN. Bessent's stepmother, Nicole Bessent, apologized for the loss of life during the proceedings, and Bessent himself expressed remorse for his actions.
The victim's sister has said the stolen vehicle was traveling at speeds estimated up to 180 mph on a roadway with a 35 to 40 mph limit in the moments before impact, according to statements cited by NBC 6 South Florida. She also said that before the fatal crash, Bessent had already compiled 19 prior juvenile law enforcement charges, a history the family has pointed to in arguing for accountability.
From Juvenile Court to an Adult Sentence
Bessent's case was initially handled amid intense scrutiny of his age and demeanor. In October 2022, Judge Stacy Ross ordered him removed from a Broward County hearing after he began laughing while his defense team requested 21 days for psychological and IQ testing, Local 10 News reported at the time. Prosecutors went on to formally charge Bessent as an adult that December on 24 criminal counts, including manslaughter, vehicular homicide, and leaving the scene of an accident involving death, according to CBS News.
That path was made possible under Section 985.557 of the Florida Statutes, which gives state attorneys discretionary authority to direct-file charges against 14- and 15-year-olds directly into adult court for specified violent or felony offenses, including manslaughter, according to the Florida Senate's own statutory text. Bessent formally entered a guilty plea in April, resolving the criminal case nearly four years after the crash occurred.
Defense Pointed to a Violent Childhood
During sentencing testimony, defense witnesses including Bessent's aunt and his incarcerated sister described severe childhood physical abuse, testifying that their mother had previously ordered the sister to hold Bessent down during beatings, according to court testimony reported by Crime Watch America. That mitigating evidence was weighed against the family's account of Bessent's extensive prior record and the extreme speeds involved in the chase as the court determined his ultimate sentence.
Bessent, now 19, will serve his 10-year prison term before beginning the decade of probation that follows, with his driver's license revoked for 10 years once that sentence concludes. For Tellez-Valderrabano's three children, the sentencing closes a legal chapter that stretched nearly four years, though as Cruz and Tellez Féria told the court, the loss itself remains something they carry every day.
