Driver pleads guilty in 87 mph crash that killed teen girl in Burke

A driver pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter for a crash that killed a 17-year-old girl in Burke, Virginia, in 2023. He was speeding nearly 90 mph in a 40 mph zone at the time, prosecutors said.

Rebekah Zarco was killed in the crash on July 18, 2023. She was driving her younger brother and two close friends, who were injured but survived.

Only News4 was in court on Tuesday when Jose Zelaya admitted guilt. The victim’s father said the plea is difficult for the family to accept.

“As a father, this plea agreement is extremely hard to see as justice. Bekah was 17, had just graduated high school, was excited to start college, and her future was taken by a 42-year-old man driving with extreme disregard for human life on a neighborhood road in his own community,” William Zarco said in a statement.

The many delays to the criminal case only deepened his family’s pain and hurt, he added.

“We are exhausted, and although we are not satisfied with the plea, we need to begin closing this chapter for our own well being,” the father said. “Our tragedy has made painfully clear that the laws do not match the reality of what families like ours endure.”

Rebekah Zarco had been turning left from a shopping area onto Burke Centre Parkway when the car driven by Zelaya smashed into the teens. Video showed flames at the terrible scene. The recent graduate of James W Robinson, Jr. Secondary School was killed and the three boys were seriously hurt.

The day after the tragedy, her uncle expressed deep sorrow as he added flowers to a roadside memorial.

“It’s the hardest thing ever. I just don’t understand why,” he said.

In court, prosecutors laid out the evidence they would have presented had the case gone to trial. They say witnesses told police Zelaya appeared to be racing along Burke Centre Parkway. The black box on his Cadillac Escalade showed he was going 87 mph when he hit the teens’ car, prosecutors said.

There were tears in the courtroom as Zelaya entered a guilty plea to one count of involuntary manslaughter. He left the courthouse a free man for now.

Under the plea agreement, the judge will decide at a sentencing hearing in March whether he will serve as little as one year behind bars or up to six years.

Rebekah Zarco’s brother and one of the other teens who were injured are now roommates in their freshman year of college, her father said. News4 did not hear back from the other injured boy’s family.

At the crash site, safety improvements have been made to prevent a left turn onto the parkway. Flowers left in the victim’s memory remain.

Family members and friends brought flowers to honor a teen killed in a crash and three other teens seriously injured on Burke Centre Parkway. News4’s Juliana Valencia reports.