Man pleads to DUI in 5 deaths

It's become a yearly ritual for Cathy Manzano Jones. On April 21, her family gathers for prayers and Mass in memory of five family members lost to a drunken driver.

The next day, she and her husband celebrate their wedding anniversary.

The juxtaposition of sorrow and joy comes because in 2006, a drunken Kenneth Stewart ran a red light in his Dodge Durango and smashed into a Mercedes on Parsons Avenue in Brandon. The car was full of Jones' female relatives, several of whom had just flown in for her wedding the next day.

The crash killed her mother, 62-year-old Emily Manzano of Brandon. A cousin died at the scene, and another cousin died that morning at the hospital. Two other relatives died shortly afterward.

Thursday, Stewart pleaded guilty to five counts of DUI manslaughter and two counts of DUI with serious bodily injury. Lab results show the Lakeland man was driving at the time of the 3 a.m. crash with a blood-alcohol level of 0.12; state law presumes a driver is impaired at 0.08.

"Every time I see him, I think that he is the last guy who saw my family," Jones said. "It kills me all the time."

Circuit Judge Robert Foster scheduled sentencing for July 17 to give the victims' family time to fly in from various places nationwide so they can watch.

"I'm just glad it is over; I've been waiting three years," Jones said. "I would like more, but what can you do? I am glad he got what he got."

Stewart entered into a plea bargain with prosecutors. In addition to the jail time, he also will be on 10 years' probation when he's released from prison.

The daughter said the family approved the plea bargain. She said it was easier than having to relive the deaths in a trial.

After the wreck, the family wasn't sure what to do about the wedding. In addition to her mother, those killed were Sonia Medders, 58, of Oceanside, Calif.; Juliebeth Olega, 37, of Clifton Heights, Pa.; and Lily Foster, 73, and Victoria Weaver, 46, both of Sparks, Nev.

Jones said she and her husband, Cory, went through with their wedding the next day to honor her mother and the others who died.

"She wanted the big party," Jones said.