Jean-Pierre Velasco, 21, of Silver Spring, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Circuit Court to two counts of manslaughter by motor vehicle for a 2023 crash in Rockville that killed two 19-year-olds, with sentencing set for April 7, 2025
According to the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office, “In the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, MD, before the Honorable Sharon Burrell, defendant, Jean-Pierre Velasco, 21, of Silver Spring, pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter by motor vehicle for the crash that led to the deaths of 19-year-old Kailey Briana Vigil and 19-year-old Leslie Kristin Ventura. Per the plea agreement, Velasco faces a maximum of eight years in prison. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 7, 2025.
The crash occurred in the early morning hours on Saturday, March 4, 2023. Velasco was driving a vehicle with four passengers heading to the home of a friend. The group was traveling from Sterling, Virginia to Wheaton, Maryland in an Infinity G-37 when the single-vehicle collision occurred at Montrose Road and Hitching Post Lane in Rockville. The defendant lost control on the wet roadway following rain, struck the curb of the center median, continued back into the roadway, struck the right curb, continued across the grass and sidewalk striking several fixed objects and then struck a metal light support pole which is where the vehicle came to rest.
Leslie Ventura was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. Kailey Vigil died in the hospital on March 6, 2023, as a result of injuries sustained in the crash. The defendant consented to a blood sample which contained a blood alcohol content level of .10. An investigation conducted by the Montgomery County Police Collison Reconstruction Unit determined the vehicle was traveling at a speed between 57 and 73 miles per hour at the time of the crash. The speed limit on that stretch of roadway is 40 miles per hour.
Assistant State’s Attorney Joshua Wesnidge is prosecuting this matter.”