MIAMI – Sixteen-year-old Maykoll Santiesteban may not leave prison until well into his senior years after pleading guilty Friday to killing three women in a crash during an April 2024 joyride in Hialeah.
Police said Santiesteban, then 15, was driving nearly 55 mph over the speed limit in his father’s car when he slammed into a parked vehicle in the 400 block of Southeast Fifth Street on April 23.
Yarnia Garcia Hernandez, 39, and her aunt, Gloria Hernandez, 53, were pronounced dead at the scene.
Hernandez’s 66-year-old mother, Liliana Hernandez Molina, died from her injuries in September.
Santiesteban pleaded guilty Friday in Miami-Dade court to three counts each of vehicular homicide and driving without a license causing death. His family and parents were in the courtroom.
The teenager, charged as an adult, entered the plea without knowing his sentence. He faces between 28 and 65 years in prison.
The state and Santiesteban’s defense team will make presentations and recommendations during a March 26 sentencing hearing.