Monday, May 23, 2022

16-year-old DeWayne Widmer Jr. Offered Plea Agreement For Less Juvenile Detention For The November 2021 Vehicular Homicide Of Giovanni Florentino, 16, In The Southside Of Milwaukee

Widmer Jr., a juvenile driver who was identified in social media in November 2021 after he fled from a Southside vehicle crash scene that he caused leaving his two passengers Giovanni Florentino, 16, to die from his injuries and Sebastián Florentino, 13, critically injured is expected to accept a plea agreement for less time in juvenile detention and extended supervision.

By H. Nelson Goodson 
Hispanic News Network U.S.A.

May 23, 2022

Milwaukee, Wisconsin - Next month, according to relatives of a deceased 16-year-old victim alleged that DeWayne Widmer Jr., 16, is expected to enter a guilty plea on June 6th to a delinquency petition for 2nd-degree reckless homicide and 1st-degree reckless injury in juvenile court for the November 2021 fatal vehicular crash that left Giovanni Florentino, 16, aka, Chucho deceased at the crash site located in the 3600 block of W. Lincoln Ave. in the Southside of Milwaukee.

According to the alleged plea agreement, Widmer Jr.'s additional charges will only be read on the record, simply because under a juvenile court delinquency adjudication, a juvenile can do a limited detention sentence and must be released, if not waived into adult court. In this case, Widmer Jr. will be facing up to 5 years in detention and can be released under extended supervision after just serving 1 year and 6 months in detention with good behavior when he gets sentenced in June.

The Florentino and Jiménez family are holding protests at the juvenile detention center hoping to persuade the juvenile court to charge Widmer as an adult, but it seems that Widmer will take a guilty plea to do less time for the homicide of 16-year-old Giovanni.

Police reported that on, November 12, 2021, around 8:16p.m., a stolen SUV with four individuals inside including a driver (identified as Widmer Jr. in social media) who was driving recklessly at 90 mph in a 30 mph speed limit heading eastbound at the 3600 block of W. Lincoln Ave. lost control and crashed into a tree. The SUV split in half on impact with a tree and both Giovanni and his brother, Sebastián, who were the rear seat passengers, were ejected from the SUV on impact. Giovanni suffered fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. Sebastián suffered critical injuries and was hospitalized.

Police say that the SUV was reported stolen a day before the fatal crash and the driver of the stolen SUV and a front seat passenger who was the driver's cousin fled the crash scene leaving the Florentino brothers at the scene without rendering any aid.

Nely Jiménez, Giovanni's stepmother who is seeking justice for her stepson and her 13-year-old son Sebastián told Hispanic News Network U.S.A. (HNNUSA), that Widmer Jr.'s mother had picked up her son and his cousin after the fatal crash and helped them elude police until mid January when Widmer Jr. surrendered to police.

When Widmer Jr. was on the run for nearly several months, he posted videos and told his followers on social media that he didn't expect to get to much time in detention as a juvenile convicted of a crime, according to the Florentino family.

Widmer Jr.'s cousin was not charged in the fatal crash incident.

Last Friday morning, before Widmer's juvenile court hearing, the Florentino family and friends held an outdoor protest at the Milwaukee County Vel R. Phillips Juvenile Justice Center, 10201 W Watertown Plank Rd, seeking justice for Giovanni. They will also hold another protest to seek justice for Giovanni at the juvenile center on June 6.

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