HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — The man convicted in a DUI crash that killed his infant daughter was sentenced to 16 years in prison followed by four years of probation on Friday morning.
According to the arrest affidavit, Arturo Antonio Higuera Guerrero was driving on County Road 39 near Old Hopewell Road in Plant City when he crossed the center line and crashed head-on into another vehicle. Investigators determined he was under the influence of marijuana at the time of the crash.
Authorities say Higuera Guerrero’s 5-month-old daughter, Olivia, was riding in the back seat. The arrest report states the infant was in a rear-facing car seat that had been turned to face forward and was not properly secured.
Olivia’s mother, Audrey Cunningham, told Tampa Bay 28 reporter Keely McCormick that Higuera Guerrero was sentenced to 16 years in prison, followed by four years of probation, during the sentencing on July 24.
Cunningham also said Higuera Guerrero's driver's license will be permanently revoked, and he will undergo random drug screenings and be prohibited from using medical marijuana.
Ahead of the sentencing, McCormick spoke to Cunningham, who said the pain of losing her daughter has not gone away.
Watch report from Keely McCormick
“It’s not ok. It’s not okay. I have pictures and videos and that’s all I have of her you know you can’t go back and change things but God I wish I could,” Audrey Cunningham said.
Cunningham said her grief is mixed with anger as she prepares to hear the sentence handed down to her former boyfriend.
“There is a ton of sadness, but a lot of anger as well,” Cunningham said.
She is asking the judge to impose the maximum sentence that the law will allow.
Cunningham said, “It is the worst thing that could happen it’ll never be okay. I will forever miss her every day. You know she’d be three now. Her life was stolen. It wasn’t right.”
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