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Mom Who Let Son Use Car Charged With Manslaughter

Memorial for Raquel Carreras.

News Channel 8 photo by MAURICE CAPOBIANCO

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 6, 2008

Updated: 03/06/2008 05:46 pm

ST. PETERSBURG - A mother has been charged with manslaughter after letting her son take her car before he wrecked it, killing a 14-year-old girl who was riding as a passenger, authorities say.

Lesa Ledesma, 42, of St. Petersburg, was arrested Wednesday and was released from the Pinellas County Jail after posting $10,000 bond.

Lesa Ledesma

Ledesma's son, Shawn, 15, was driving his mother's 2006 Saturn Ion on Sept. 15 when he tried to pass another car, struck it and then lost control, according to Pinellas County court records.

The Saturn started rotating, hit a curb and then flipped, striking an oak tree and a fence, the Florida Highway Patrol has said. The car's crash retrieval system showed the car had been traveling 70 mph five seconds before the wreck, the court records state.

Inside the car were five teenage passengers, none of whom was wearing a seatbelt, the patrol has said. One of them, Raquel Carreras, a Northeast High School student, was thrown out a window and was pronounced dead at Bayfront Medical Center.

Lesa Ledesma had allowed her son to take the Saturn to pick up friends, the court records show.

"Independent witnesses observed Lesa Ledesma provide the keys to Shawn Ledesma, fully aware that Shawn Ledesma would be operating the motor vehicle without the supervision of a licensed adult," the records state.

Shawn Ledesma at the time had a Class E learner's permit, which requires that an individual 21 years or older be in the passenger seat, the court records state. Furthermore, Shawn Ledesma was not
authorized to drive a car after 10 p.m., the court records state; the wreck occurred on 62nd Avenue at 10:45 p.m.

Michelle Carreras, Raquel's mother, said she was happy that Lesa Ledesma had been charged. Shawn Ledesma was charged with vehicular homicide in December.

"She's responsible for this," Carreras said. "She was playing friend instead of parent and my daughter lost her life." The lives of the other teens in the car have been dramatically affected by the wreck also, she added.

"They're messed up," Carreras said. "Losing their friend, watching their friend get killed. Because of one person's decision, six families are screwed up.''

Lesa Ledesma told Cpl. Douglas Guy of the highway patrol that she was fully aware that her son was not a licensed driver and that he was not supposed to drive without someone at least 21 years old in the car, the court records state. She also said she let him drive without someone that age on one prior occasion, the documents say.

By giving her son the keys and allowing him to drive, Lesa Ledesma killed Raquel Carreras, the documents state.

Assistant State Attorney Mark McGarry said "it's not particularly common" that a parent is accused of manslaughter after giving a child a car before the child kills someone with it. The more common scenario is when a parent leaves a gun unsecured, and then the child kills someone else with it, he said.

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.

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