Plant City woman pleads guilty again to cause fatal DUI crash

TAMPA — Jennifer Carvallar was in Tampa court on Monday, admitting that for the second time in her life she drove drunk and caused a crash that killed someone.

Young Plant City woman pleaded guilty to DUI manslaughter, vehicle murder and several other charges related to a high speed collision in April 2021, killing her cousin and seriously injured two others I did. She also admitted to violating probation from a previous case in which she was drunk at the age of 16 and killed a man.

Carvajal, 27, chose to have the judge decide the prison time she will receive. She spent five years in prison due to the previous incident. This time, she may remain in prison for decades.

Her guilty plea came at the final moments before the scheduled ju trial on Monday morning.

She’s G. She stood by an official defender wearing an orange, wearing her long black hair in a ponytail when she answered a series of questions from Judge Gregory Green.

“Are you pleading guilty because you’re actually guilty?” the judge asked.

“Yes, sensei,” she said quietly.

Carvajal bowed his head and sometimes placed his hands in her eyes.

It occurred at 1:30am on April 25th, 2021. Carvajal, who had revoked his driver’s license due to a previous conviction and was subject to a curfew, ended late with the family gathering. Silver Hyundai Elantra wheels.

As she drove east along Interstate 4, a Florida Highway Patrol trooper said he recorded her speed at 111 mph. The trooper speeded to catch up with her, the lights and sirens of his police car.

When he appeared behind Hyundai, the car went down the grassy slopes off the right shoulder of the road and up the embankment. I was in the air and as I entered the Gatorford dealer lot I clipped the fence. The car capsized and hit a truck, a light concrete pole and a palm tree.

Pedro Carvajal, 22, was thrown from the car, in the back seat. He later died in the hospital. Another passenger, Grady Ramirez, was seriously injured along with Carbajal’s girlfriend, Lexcia Gonzalez.

The troopers later discovered Gonzalez lying on the ground outside the car. She was also kicked out. Both legs were broken. She pointed to Kavajal, who was standing near the fence, cutting the skin of her hair and broken glass.

Before Carvajal turned her plea to guilty, the defense attorney had tried to prohibit the jury from hearing certain statements he heard after the crash. They included the testimony of another Highway Patrol trooper who was heard talking to Gonzalez.

“Tell them that you’re driving,” she said, according to court records. “I’m going to go back for another five years.”

Road Ranger also heard she said she needs to leave because she wasn’t going late, court records say. Ranger Isaac Parsons asked her what had happened.

“Man, I just liked five years, that’s what it is,” Carvajal said according to court records. “That’s why I’m writing papers. I’m not supposed to go out either.”

Carvajal’s blood alcohol content was measured at 0.10 from samples taken about three hours after the collision, court records say. State law estimates disability at 0.08.

Prosecutors said the DNA identified by the Hyundai driver’s seat belt and buckle matched the Carvajal, according to the DNA identified by the Hyundai driver’s seat belt and buckle. Investigators also pulled records from Snapchat social media accounts. This included images showing the speedometer of the car, taken at about the same time as the crash. It showed a speed of 110 mph.

Carvajal was 16 when he was first accused of causing a fatal drunken clash.

It occurred on February 5th, 2014 on North Alexander Street near the I-4 interchange in Plant City. Shortly after sunrise that day, she blew a red light and collided at 55 mph with a black Toyota echo that was off the interstate.

Driver Keith Allen Davis, 52, went out early that morning to deliver a copy of the Tampa Tribune. He was seriously injured and later died in the hospital.

Again, Karbahal pleaded guilty and had the judge decide her sentence.

Her younger age and testimony about her life she endured the terrible abuse that led to her to face five years’ sentence in that case. She was repeatedly charged with violating probation before leaving her second crash.

Carbahal previously refused the state’s offer to agree to a 50-year sentence if she pleaded guilty. The state sentencing guidelines peg her lowest proposed sentence for 31 years in prison.

Prosecutors can seek life sentences at hearings scheduled for late May.