Inset: Sunshine Perez (Broward County Jail). Background: The aftermath of the crash on the Turnpike in Miramar, Florida, showing the ruined front of a Honda Civic hit by Perez. (WTVJ).
In a grave reminder of the perils of impaired driving, a Florida woman has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after her reckless actions left a paramedic dead. The tragic incident unfolded when she drove the wrong way on a highway and collided with the young man’s Honda Civic.
Sunshine Perez, aged 46, accepted responsibility for her actions, pleading guilty to charges of DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide in the heartbreaking death of 23-year-old Ezekiel Urrutia. On Friday, a judge handed her a two-decade prison term, emphasizing the severity of her crime.
The catastrophic event took place in the early hours of January 9, 2025. As Perez traveled south in the northbound lanes on Florida’s Turnpike near Miramar, she drove for at least two miles before striking Urrutia’s vehicle in a devastating head-on collision.
First responders arriving at the scene pronounced Urrutia dead, marking a tragic end to a promising life. Investigations later revealed that Perez’s blood alcohol content was nearly double the legal limit, and she displayed visible signs of intoxication, such as bloodshot eyes and the scent of alcohol. Moreover, a toxicology report uncovered the presence of THC, methamphetamine, and oxycodone in her system, painting a grim picture of impairment and its deadly consequences.
But Perez claimed the toxicology report was wrong.
“I was working, and when I got off of work, I went to one of my friends’ house, I had a drink, and I said my back was hurting, and I took what I thought was medication,” she said, according to a courtroom report from local NBC affiliate WTVJ. “Then I later found out in a toxicology report that there were things in my system that I do not do.”
While sobbing through her statement to the court, she poked fun of her first name and apologized to the victim’s family.
“Again, I struggle with knowing that my two hands caused so much trouble to a family. I mean, come on with a name like Sunshine, you expect that to be a happy, bubbly person which I typically am, but now it’s like a rain cloud over this family and anyone who knew him,” Perez said, per CBS affiliate WFOR.
Urrutia’s family said he was set to be hired as a paramedic for the City of Miami at the time of his death.
“In a single moment, Sunshine Perez put an end to everything,” his father Frank Urrutia told the court. “Absolutely no words can describe when two Florida Highway Patrol detectives came to our front door.”
The victim’s mother, Tiffany Urrutia, spoke about all the milestones she will miss with her son.
“I was supposed to watch my child grow up,” she said. “I was supposed to hold his children and spoil them and watch the life that he worked hard to build. Instead, I watched the news and his body in a bag next to his car.”
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