St. Petersburg mom gets 30 days for son's crash that killed teen

Times Staff Writer

LARGO — Two years after making a parenting decision that cost a teenage girl her life, a St. Petersburg mother has pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Lesa Ledesma allowed her son Shawn to drive her car one night in 2007, even though he was 15 and too young for a license. Shawn crashed into a tree, killing one of his passengers, 14-year-old Raquel Carreras, a popular Northeast High School cheerleader.

Under a plea arrangement, Lesa Ledesma will serve 30 days in jail and spend five years on probation, with two of those years on house arrest. She made her plea Tuesday morning, the day her trial was scheduled to begin.

A conviction would normally carry a sentence of 91/2 to 15 years in prison, Assistant State Attorney Doneene Dresback said.

But this was not a normal manslaughter case. In fact, it was believed to be one of the first cases in the country, if not the first, in which prosecutors charged a parent with manslaughter for letting her child drive without a license.

Asked if this wasn't a light sentence for manslaughter, Ledesma's attorney, Lane Lastinger, said: "There was a very strong possibility that she would have been found not guilty." He also said he believes this punishment "does send a message that the State Attorney's Office isn't going to turn a blind eye to these kinds of bad decisions."

Dresback said the agreement was a good one considering that "it definitely could have gone either way" if tried before a jury.

"There is something to be said for a guarantee of someone taking responsibility for her actions," she said.

At the request of Raquel Carreras' mother, Michelle, Ledesma will serve her 30 days in jail over the Christmas holidays. She also must pay $5,000 in restitution for funeral expenses. And she has promised to write a letter of apology.

On the night of the September 2007 accident, Shawn Ledesma was at home in north St. Petersburg with some of his friends, his mother, his younger sister and some of her friends. He asked his mother if he could use her car to give a ride to some girls, classmates at Northeast, who wanted to come over. She eventually relented.

On the drive back, with a total of six teenagers in the car, none of them wearing seat belts, Shawn Ledesma hit a curb and smashed into a tree on 62nd Avenue N. Raquel was ejected through the Saturn Ion's sun roof and killed.

If the trial had begun as scheduled on Tuesday, prosecutors would have needed to prove that Ledesma knew or should have known that by giving the car keys to her son, someone would wind up seriously injured or killed.

Defense attorney Lastinger argued in a previous court hearing that the mother's decision, while ill-advised, did not amount to manslaughter. Blood tests showed Shawn Ledesma had not been using drugs or drinking alcohol.

But Dresback, the prosecutor, argued for the manslaughter charge in that hearing. She said Ledesma let her son drive even though he did not have anyone over 21 in the car and it was after dark, both violations of his learner's permit.

Lastinger said afterward that "This was a tragedy. She's truly sorry for her part in it. If she could take back her actions of giving her keys to (her son) she would do it."

Ledesma said afterward that she wanted to express "just how sorry me and my son are."

Shawn Ledesma, now a 17-year-old senior at Northeast, already had pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and is scheduled to be sentenced in October. He declined to comment Tuesday. Records show his permit is still valid, but he has not gotten his license.

Raquel's aunt Carolyn Postle said she thought the sentence "should have been a lot stronger."

Michelle Carreras has said she is devastated by the loss of her eldest daughter and angry at Ledesma's decision to let her son drive. She said Tuesday that she did not think the sentence sent a strong enough message to parents.

But she did say the State Attorney's Office had consulted with her closely and she did not object to the sentence. She said Ledesma "could be sentenced for life or one hour," but either way, it wouldn't bring Raquel back.

Asked what message she would like parents to take from her ordeal, she said: "Quit being a friend, and be a parent. We're not their friends until they're 21."

Her younger daughter, Ruth, 14, who has heard it before, looked up at her and smiled.

Curtis Krueger can be reached at ckrueger@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8232.