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SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake man charged in the violent car crash that killed two West High School students and injured a pregnant woman is considering a plea deal.
Abraham Miranda, who turned 19 last month, appeared in court Thursday to waive a preliminary hearing where evidence supporting the charges against him would have been presented.
As he did, prosecutor Robert Neve informed the judge that prosecutors have offered a deal to Miranda. He has 30 days to accept it.
According to Neve, prosecutors are asking Miranda to plead guilty to the two counts of manslaughter against him, both second-degree felonies. In exchange, a charge of reckless endangerment, a class A misdemeanor, would be dismissed.
Neve said prosecutors would recommend a year in jail for Miranda followed by a strict probation, but the judge would not be bound to follow their recommendation when the time comes to impose a sentence.
According to charging documents, Miranda was driving an estimated 95 mph on 300 West near West High, a 40 mph area, when he crashed his Chevy Impala on Feb. 16.
Related:
Woman involved in fatal head-on crash delivers baby; friends mourn students killed
An expectant mother involved in a head-on crash that killed two West High School students delivered a healthy daughter through an emergency C-section.As he tried to avoid another vehicle in the intersection of 700 North, police say Miranda's car struck the center median, went into oncoming traffic and hit a 2004 Honda Pilot head-on.
The two passengers in Miranda's vehicle — Dylan Emilio Hernandez, 18, and Vidal Pacheco-Tinoco, 17 — were killed.
The Honda, driven by Amy Elizabeth Stevenson-Wilson, who was pregnant, went spinning into a nearby building. An emergency cesarean section was performed by doctors to deliver Wilson's baby about six weeks early.
Wilson was hospitalized with a traumatic brain injury and 15 broken bones, and she had to have a kidney and her spleen removed, charges state, while her infant daughter will have brain damage "and trouble using her left side."
At least one witness told police it appeared the Impala was "dragging" against another vehicle. Miranda told police he "was in a hurry to get to the arcade," according to court records.
An arraignment for Miranda is scheduled for Oct. 20.
