(Des Moines, IA) -- A Des Moines man's been sentenced to 16-years in prison in a deadly drag racing case. A Polk County jury last month found 48-year-old Keith Jones guilty of homicide by vehicle while drag racing, as well as OWI, reckless driving, and other charges, stemming from the death of 4-year old Marcos Faguada a year ago on Des Moines' south side. A judge has also ordered Jones to pay $150,000 to the the child's family.
Jones is the second of two drivers sentenced to prison in the deadly crash. Robert Miller was previously sentenced to 30-years in prison
Police were called to a crash on Fleur Drive December 13, 2022. Marcos Faguada died after the crash and Mayra De Catalan was injured.
Polk County District Judge Lawrence McLellan sentenced Jones to serve the maximum sentence of 10 years for leaving the scene; five years for drag racing; one year for the OWI charges; and 30 days for reckless driving. The sentences will be served consecutively. Jones was given credit for time served.
The mother of Marcos, Elva Galvan, said the family released lanterns on Wednesday night to commemorate the anniversary of her son’s death. She told the court that Marcos loved to dance, tell jokes, and wear superhero costumes.
“No matter where he was going, he wanted to be invincible,” she said in her victim impact statement.
Ms. Galvan related how the defendant’s actions traumatized her and her family.
“You knew what you were doing that night, drinking and driving and racing,” she said, addressing Mr. Jones.
“As a mother, my heart is broken and I am forever marked because you took my son away from me,” she said. “I am not the happy person that I used to be.”
According to evidence and testimony in the case, Jones and Robert Miller were drinking at an Army Post Road bar 13, 2022. Mr. Jones had six shots and two mixed drinks at the bar in two hours and 20 minutes, surveillance video showed. The two left separately from the bar, driving west on Army Post and then north on Fleur Drive. Several witnesses testified seeing both vehicles speeding and driving erratically while racing each other.
On Fleur Drive near Gray’s Lake, Mr. Miller’s Genesis sedan was traveling at speeds up to 108 mph when it crossed the median and struck a vehicle driven by Ms. De Catalan. Her son Thiago and her nephew, Marcos Faguada, were passengers in the vehicle. All three were taken to the hospital, and Marcos, age 4, died.
Mr. Jones, driving a BWM SUV, did not stay at the scene of the accident. Officers later identified Jones as the driver of the BMW. After several weeks, his vehicle was recovered from a business garage in Chicago.