JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Almost a year to the day after first pleading not guilty, Ariel Monteagudo is now admitting to killing Trenton Stewart--an 18-year-old graduate of Creekside High School and football player at Stetson University--in a wrong-way crash.
Action News Jax has been covering Stewart’s death since the crash first happened in May 2023. Ariel Monteagudo is admitting to being the driver responsible for taking Trenton’s life while he was driving home for summer break after finishing his first year at Stetson University.
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Monteagudo took a plea deal that his attorneys worked out with the state, which lays out a prison sentence between 8-12 years and a minimum 3-year suspension of his driver’s license. Florida law says the felony charge against him, second-degree vehicular homicide, carries a maximum 15-year prison sentence.
Inside the Duval County courthouse on Monday afternoon, Trenton’s parents heard the most words spoken by Monteagudo, in person, since their son’s death:
Judge Jeb Branham: “Are you entering in the guilty plea because you believe it is in your best interest to do so?”
Ariel Monteagudo: “I believe it is in the best interest of everybody, sir.”
Trenton’s parents, Mandi and Robert Stewart, say they were unnerved by Monteagudo’s words.
“I think it would have been in the best interest of everyone if this never happened,” Mandi Stewart, Trenton’s mother, said. “But at least we’re getting closer to the end of this.”
The Stewart family has been in and out of court for the more than 18 months that have passed since their son’s death, sitting through, now, two plea filings and numerous other hearings. They don’t believe the sentence currently on the table is enough.
“Justice is never going to be fully served for Trenton,” Robert Stewart, Trenton’s father, said.
Monteagudo was first arrested in Nov. 2023, around six months after Trenton was killed. His arrest report says he was driving 113 miles per hour down Old St. Augustine Road, 68 miles over the speed limit, when he went into the wrong lane and hit Trenton head-on.
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Monteagudo, now 40 years old, previously spent 10 years in prison, between 2002 and 2012, after being convicted of a separate vehicular homicide in Broward County. The Florida Department of Corrections says he has five other charges against him for which he has served prison time. Since he will likely be released from prison after serving his upcoming sentence, Trenton’s parents say more needs to be done to keep him and drivers charged in other deadly crashes off the road.
“I do not think that Trenton would be happy with what we have to define as justice in his name and in his honor,” Mandi Stewart said.
The Stewart family has since raised tens of thousands of dollars through their nonprofit organization, the Trenton Stewart Foundation, which works to raise scholarship money for other student-athletes like their son. Another goal of the foundation is to advocate for Florida lawmakers to pass harsher penalties for those who not only are responsible for deadly crashes but who are repeatedly charged for them.
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The Stewarts say, that although the sentence for the man pleading guilty in their son’s death has now been laid out, they hope to help other families affected by deadly crashes.
“The fact that we’re sitting in a situation where we know this person has killed multiple people, and the maximum prison sentence is 15 years, is a huge disconnect for me,” said Robert Stewart.
The Trenton Stewart Foundation is hosting a fundraiser on December 18th, starting at 5:00 PM at the Taps Bar & Grill in St. Johns. It’s also hosting a gala on February 15th of next year to raise money.
The court will meet again on Dec. 18 to review Monteagudo’s criminal history and confirm a date for his sentencing. That date is expected to be on or around Jan. 24, 2025.
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