Pierson Villalobos

From Key West Reporter
The attorneys for a Marathon man charged with two counts of vehicular homicide say he wasn’t at the wheel at the time of the deadly crash three years ago — they say his passenger was.
Pierson Villalobos, 31, went on trial Tuesday at the Marathon courthouse for the Nov. 28, 2009, crash that killed 42-year-old Deborah Mangrum and 34-year-old Christopher Jennings. The pair had only recently moved to Marathon.
Villalobos is charged with two counts each of DUI manslaughter and vehicular homicide. He’s been in jail on $1 million bond since his arrest.
Following the crash, state troopers said Villalobos’ 1999 Ford was headed northbound on U.S. 1 in Old Town Marathon and collided with a 2009 Toyota driven by Mercedes Diaz. It then struck Mangrum’s car.
Mangrum, a mother of four, died at the scene. Jennings, her passenger, died a few days later at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami.
In her opening argument, defense attorney Rose Valentine said “accuracy does not equal certainty” in claiming that Villalobos passenger Yendel Garcia was driving the red pickup that caused the crash.
Garcia, 35, has had his own driving problems. Records show he’s been arrested for drunk driving twice and ….MORE