Sentencing delayed in Highway 101 crash that killed Santa Rosa teenager

Sentencing was pushed back nearly two months for a Santa Rosa man convicted in a Highway 101 crash that killed a 16-year-old girl in July.

Jhovanne Velazquez is scheduled to be sentenced in Sonoma County Superior Court on Jan. 28 after his hearing was delayed Friday morning.

He faced up to five years in prison, and discussion about an appropriate sentence led to Friday’s delay, Sonoma County’s Chief Deputy Public Defender Jeff Mitchell said.

On Oct. 20, Velazquez pleaded no contest to charges of hit-and-run, vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence and driving without a valid license.

He fled after crashing a Toyota Camry along Highway 101 near Yolanda Avenue in Santa Rosa about 3 a.m. July 24.

His passenger, Santa Rosa resident Yaquelin Garcia Magdaleno, was in the front passenger seat when authorities discovered the car engulfed in flames. She was burned beyond recognition and pronounced dead at the scene, according to the CHP.

Velazquez wasn’t seen until six hours after the crash when he arrived on Apache Street, where he shared a home with Magdaleno and her mother.

He had visible injuries he blamed on an attack involving unspecified individuals at an unspecified location.

Velazquez disappeared when Sonoma County sheriff’s deputies arrived to inform Magdaleno’s mother about the girl’s death earlier that morning.

Investigators began looking for him after Magdaleno’s mother explained she and Velazquez were supposed to be together at the time of the crash.

They discovered he was with his mother at her home in Sonoma, and he was arrested on July 28.

You can reach Staff Writer Colin Atagi at colin.atagi@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @colin_atagi.