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Risky ride, familiar end

Unqualified driver. No seat belts. Night driving. Another fatal crash involving teens.

By ABHI RAGHUNATHAN, EMILY NIPPS and DONNA WINCHESTER, Times Staff Writers
Published September 18, 2007

With her arm in a sling from the accident Brittany Vinson, 14, gives her condolences to Michelle Carreras along with Anna Mills, 14, at a memorial for her daughter Raquel Carreras on Monday. Carreras' daughter Raquel Carreras, 14, died in a car crash involving five Northeast High students. Sign guestbook Watch video More photos
	[Willie J. Allen Jr. | Times]

ADVERTISEMENT [Wille J. Allen Jr. | Times] "Finally, I would ask you to listen to your parents, talk to your parents and make a conscious choice to make good decisions," said Principal Patricia Wright during her address to the students at Northeast High School on Monday afternoon. [Willie J. Allen Jr. | Times] Northeast High School Students Nicole McCahan, 14, is held by Hillary Burns, 14, and Marissa Andrews, 14, at the memorial of their friend Raquel Carreras who was killed last Saturday night in a car accident. Carreras was thrown from the car in which the driver had earned a drivers permit and not a full drivers license. [Special to the Times] Raquel Carreras, 14, who was killed in the car accident.

ST. PETERSBURG - The six teenagers packed into the Saturn Ion sedan Saturday night were breaking just about every rule of safe driving.

None of the Northeast High students wore a seat belt, and some had told their parents conflicting stories about where they were headed. In the driver's seat: a 15-year-old who got his learner's permit barely a month ago, a boy who can't legally drive at night or without an adult in the passenger seat.

The evening ended with an accident that killed 14-year-old passenger Raquel Carreras, and officials are considering charges against the driver and his mother, the car's owner.

While the details vary, the story is a familiar one: another teen killed on the streets of the Tampa Bay region, another cross on the side of the road, another gathering of weeping friends wondering what went wrong.

Drivers between the ages of 15 and 19 are roughly twice as likely to end up in accidents as all drivers, state accident figures reveal. In 2005, 452 drivers of those ages were involved in fatal crashes in Florida.

Neither the driver in Saturday's accident nor any of the students involved has taken Northeast High's driver's education class, said teacher Dave Redding. If they had, he said, they would have routinely driven past the very spot on 62nd Avenue N where Raquel died.

"You can see on the curb where people have run up against it," Redding said. "For a beginning driver, it's a dangerous area."

Friends hanging out

It began with a change in plans.

About 7:30 p.m. Saturday, the grandfather of one of Raquel's friends picked up Raquel and two friends from Raquel's house, said Raquel Carreras' mother, Michelle Carreras.

Carreras said she believed they were going to spend the night at the house of 14-year-old Jasmine Bailey.

Instead, the girls were dropped off at the ParkSide movie theater in Pinellas Park. Some girls told their parents that Michelle Carreras was going to pick them up. Carreras on Monday said she never even knew the girls needed a ride.

One of the girls was having boyfriend issues while at the movie theater, said Felicia Carver, whose 15-year-old son Kyle Carver was a passenger in the car. So the trio walked to a nearby McDonald's, and someone called friends to come give them a ride.

Shawn Ledesma eventually arrived in his mother's 2006 Saturn Ion sedan.

As they hung out in the McDonald's parking lot, someone suggested going to Shawn's home, according to Tina Elliott, whose son was there. They agreed to go.

Aaron Elliott, 17, and his friend Gabriella Gomez, 16, began driving in a 2001 Nissan pickup. Both wore seat belts.

Shawn ferried five passengers: Raquel, 14-year-old Brittany Vinson, Jasmine, Kyle and 15-year-old Jace Morrow.

Brittany said she thought Shawn was driving well until suddenly he began speeding to catch up with his friends in the pickup and lost control.

"I thought he was playing around," she said. "I said, 'Stop, stop, stop!'"

The Florida Highway Patrol said Shawn lost control on 62nd Avenue N about 500 feet west of Calais Boulevard around 10:45 p.m. He was in the outside lane and swerved into the inside lane, striking his friend Aaron Elliott's pickup before spinning out of control. The Saturn hit a fence and then an oak tree.

The two teens in the pickup truck were unhurt. By Monday, only one of the teenagers who were in the Saturn remained at the hospital. He had minor injuries.

Brittany was ejected from the Saturn and remembers lying in the grass by the road, holding Raquel's hand. Then she "blanked out," she said, and found herself in the hospital where she was treated for a broken shoulder.

"I'm angry, but not at Shawn," she said. "I'm more angry at his mom, who shouldn't have let him drive."

Charges are possible

Michelle Carreras said she hopes authorities press charges against Shawn and his mother.

"I've lost a very good child," Carreras said. "I've lost her."

FHP spokesman Larry Coggins said the investigation could take weeks, and that both Shawn and his mother, Lesa Ledesma, 42, could eventually face charges, which Coggins declined to specify. He said it was illegal for adults to knowingly allow minors with learners' permits to drive their cars without adult supervision.

Lesa Ledesma did not respond to a request for comment, and it was unclear how Shawn got his mother's car.

Coggins also said speed and carelessness may have been factors in the crash, but it does not seem alcohol was involved.

Shawn had just acquired his learner's permit on Aug. 3. Under Florida law, he was not allowed to drive at night or without a licensed 21-year-old in the passenger seat.

Ann Nucatola, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, said drivers with a learner's license found guilty of violating those restrictions get three-point penalties. Those who receive six points within 12 months can have their learners' licenses suspended for a year.

Bruce Bartlett, chief assistant in the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office, said generally it is possible, but not likely, for adults to face charges in such cases.

Saturday's accident was only the latest fatal crash involving teen drivers. A Pasco County accident Friday left Kenneth A. Smith, 16, of Land O'Lakes in critical condition. His passenger, 17-year-old Gregory J. Darden of Land O'Lakes, was killed. Over 11 days in October, three teens died in car crashes in Hillsborough County. The school district this year is cooperating with police in a seat belt enforcement campaign near high school campuses.

School offers support

Redding, the driver's education teacher, said several of the students in the accident were scheduled to take his class next semester.

"There's no guarantee driver's ed would have made them better drivers," he said. "But if we'd had them this semester, maybe we could have made a difference."

Redding said students learn about the restrictions placed on drivers with learners' permits from the first day of class. Students also learn how adding passengers to a car increases the odds of an accident, he said.

Members of the district's crisis team along with school guidance counselors were available all day in the media center for students who needed to talk.

"Kids think they're invincible," principal Patricia Wright said. "They see accidents happen on TV and people getting up without repercussions. They think bad things won't happen to them."

Throughout the day, students and teachers discussed ways to honor Raquel. The junior varsity football team ordered stickers with her initials, which they plan to affix to their helmets.

Just before dismissal, Wright addressed the students over the public address system.

"Our Northeast family is grieving because we have lost one of our own," she said. "We want to honor Raquel's memory by remembering her in a positive way."

After school, about 100 Northeast High School students walked a half mile from the school to a makeshift memorial erected at the accident scene.

Daniel Clymo, 14, said Raquel's death has taught him a lesson.

"I don't think I'll ever get in a car with someone who doesn't have their license," he said.

Meanwhile, Dylan Sharples, 15, knelt in the dirt and extracted a piece of red plastic. He held it up to the light and realized it was a bit of taillight, likely from the car in which Raquel was riding.

He attached it to a piece of string and tied the string around his neck.

Times researchers Carolyn Edds, Shirl Kennedy and Caryn Baird and staff writer Tamara El-Khoury contributed to this report. Abhi Raghunathan can be reached at araghunathan@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8472.

479,352 drivers currently hold a learner's license in Florida.

452 drivers from 15 to 19 years old were involved in fatal car crashes in 2005.

5.7 per 10,000 drivers: the crash rate for drivers from 15 to 19.

2.93: the crash rate for all drivers.

Source: Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles

[Last modified September 18, 2007, 00:26:49]