A young woman facing a DUI manslaughter charge in a fatal northwest Miami-Dade crash that killed her passenger appeared in court for the first time Wednesday.
Stephanie Restrepo, 19, is charged in the September crash that killed Lee Aguilera.
In an exclusive interview with NBC 6, the victim's mother said she not only blames the teen driver but the motel were they were. She said her son and Restrepo went to a party at a motel on Northwest 60th Avenue and that over 20 young people were in one room drinking and doing drugs and no one stopped them. At some point, Restrepo and the victim left in her car.
"You know you had one or two drinks, don't drive," Ariana Aguilera-Rivera said.
Aguilera, 20, was in the passenger seat when Restrepo slammed into a tree. Aguilera died a few days later in the hospital. Detectives arrested Restrepo on Monday after a three-month investigation.
"To me my son is still alive," Aguilera-Rivera said. "I just forgive her, I really do, I just hope to God that she finds him."
Restrepo will be formally arraigned on the criminal charges she's facing on Dec. 28.
