A teenager told jurors he was in fear for his life and passed out from an asthma attack before a deadly car crash.
Wesley Brown testified in his own defense during his trial Wednesday afternoon.
Investigators said Brown was behind the wheel of a stolen Ford Mustang on November 1, 2015. Boca Raton police dashcam video showed the car drive down Boca Raton Boulevard at 117 mph.
The Mustang collided with a Honda SUV driven by Wendy Harris-Aceves. The mother of two died on impact.
Brown admitted to driving the car. He told jurors he first saw the car in his Deerfield Beach neighborhood. He asked the man driving it, an acquaintance, if he could drive the car.
Brown was 15-years-old at the time and knew the man with the car had been released from prison after a felony conviction.
As Boca Raton police approached the car, which had been reported stolen, Brown said the passenger in the car threatened to kill him if he stopped because he was on probation.
“My mind was racing about him saying he was going to kill me. He knows where my family stays. And the police is chasing me. I was just starting to lose my breath,” Brown said.
The prosecutor argued Brown acted “recklessly.” He voluntarily asked for to drive the car, even though he knew the man driving it had previous legal issues.
Attorneys will present their closing arguments Thursday morning.
