STERLING, Va. — A teen who was sent sentenced to five years in prison for killing a truck driver in a crash asked the trucker’s family for forgiveness during a June 20 court appearance.
Jose Padilla Espinosa pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter for the fiery Sept. 18, 2023, wreck that killed 33-year-old Cesar Yepez on Route 28 in Sterling, Virginia, according to the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office.
Officials said Espinosa, who was 18 at the time, was driving a Nissan Altima 111 mph before he hit Yepez’s tractor-trailer. The truck burst into flames after the impact.
A passerby pulled Yepez from the fiery wreck; however, he died two weeks later at the hospital due to severe burns on 87% of his body.
At his court appearance on June 20, Espinosa apologized to the family and said he hopes that they can someday forgive him.
Yepez leaves behind a wife and two young children.
Born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and raised in East Texas, John Worthen returned to his home state to attend college in 1998 and decided to make his life in The Natural State. Worthen is a 20-year veteran of the journalism industry and has covered just about every topic there is. He has a passion for writing and telling stories. He has worked as a beat reporter and bureau chief for a statewide newspaper and as managing editor of a regional newspaper in Arkansas. Additionally, Worthen has been a prolific freelance journalist for two decades, and has been published in several travel magazines and on travel websites.
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