A Florida motorist, accused of running over a high school principal and leaving him an amputee, lost her plea deal after she showed up to court hours late.
Marilyn Aguilera, 52, was set to accept a plea deal for four years in prison after she ran over Javier Perez, 44, in 2016 while drunk driving.
The vehicle pinned Perez, causing him to lose both his legs and leaving him wheelchair-bound.
But Aguilera arrived to court hours late on Friday, broke down in tears during standard questioning by the judge, and asked about leaving prison early.
Exasperated, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Diane Ward told Aguilera to ‘act like a grown-up’ and then went a step further by calling off the plea deal and setting a December trial date.
As part of the deal, Aguilera would have pleaded guilty to three counts of DUI and would have been sentenced to four years in prison.
She would also have been sentenced to one year of house arrest following her release and two years of probation, according to WPLG.
If convicted at trial, she could spend up to seven years in prison
During the hearing, Aguilera also expressed concerns about her mother.
‘It’s just, I’m more concerned about Mom, who is wheelchair-bound as well,’ she said.
Ward then made a connection with Perez, saying: ‘Well, it seems like there’s many people that are now wheelchair-bound.’
Aguilera also recently fired her former legal representation and hired new attorney Ana Davide, who said her client had an emotional breakdown.
‘I do not believe this was a delay tactic,’ she said.
‘In retrospect, probably, I should have had her picked up at 6am by my investigator and brought to my office, but unfortunately, because of the lack of time, maybe I didn’t do this correctly. Maybe it was too much for her emotionally.’
In April 2016, Aguilera plowed her SUV into a West Miami-Dade baseball field, hitting Javier Perez while he coached his five-year-old son’s little-league championship game.
She failed roadside sobriety tests and police found an open can of Budweiser on the floor next to her. Tests found that her blood alcohol content was triple over the legal limit of 0.08 for driving.
Perez, a principal at South Dade High School, was described by students as a man who loved bow ties and sports.
After undergoing more than 100 blood transfusions and 20 surgeries, he vowed to one day walk on prosthetic limbs.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to help with his recovery. So far, more than $194,000 has been raised out of $200,000 goal.
