FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The parents of 23-year-old Ezekiel Urrutia made an emotional plea to a Broward County judge Thursday, asking that the woman accused of causing the crash that killed their son be held without bond.
Sunshine Perez, 45, refused to appear in Broward bond court Thursday.
In late April, she was in a Miami-Dade courtroom before being transferred to Broward County. She now faces charges that include DUI manslaughter, vehicular homicide and reckless driving.
The charges come months after a deadly wrong-way crash on Florida’s Turnpike in Miramar on Jan. 9. Urrutia was driving north near Red Road when investigators said Perez crashed into him while driving the wrong way.
Perez was rushed to the hospital. The victim, an aspiring firefighter known as “Zeke” by loved ones, lost his life.
Despite pleas from the Urrutia family, Perez was given a $400,000 bond Thursday.
If she is to post that bond, she has been ordered to remain in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, be subject to random drug tests and will have to be fitted for a GPS ankle monitoring device.