DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. — A driver who pleaded guilty to careless driving and killing a Highlands Ranch boy who was on his way to school was sentenced Tuesday to one year in jail — the maximum sentence for the misdemeanor charge.
The defendant, Ruben Morones, 53, pleaded guilty to careless driving resulting in death in October after he was arrested for running a red light and killing Alexander "Alex" Mackiewicz, 13, who was riding a OneWheel (a single-wheel electric skateboard) across a Highlands Ranch crosswalk just before 7 a.m. on March 6, 2024. Morones said the glare of the sun blocked his view of the traffic light and the boy. As part of the plea deal, other charges against Morones were dropped.
While the prosecutors and defense were able to reach that plea deal, they could not decide on a sentence, so that was brought to Judge Lawrence Bowling.
On Tuesday afternoon, Judge Bowling sentenced Morones to one year in jail (with the ability to apply for a work release program if he does not drive to or from the job) and a $1,000 fine. This was the maximum sentence allowed in Colorado for the careless driving charge, which is a Class 1 misdemeanor.
Multiple members of Alex's family addressed the court on Tuesday, including his mother, Victoria Cegielski. She remembered the morning of March 6, when her son came into her bedroom, kissed her goodbye and said he was leaving for school early to talk with a teacher about a project. When she learned there had been a crash — and that her son had been marked absent from school — she rushed to the scene at Venneford Ranch Road and Highlands Ranch Parkway, where a deputy told her that a young boy named Alex had been involved in the crash and had died.
“Everything inside me was trying to hold onto the last shreds of hope I still had at that time," she said in court. "I was in denial. It was just a dream. It didn’t happen to me... It was not a dream.”
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'Every single card we receive, we read': Mother of Alex Mackiewicz speaks out
Victoria Cegielski has fond memories of Alex to look back on — the time he spent extra money at school to pay for others' lunches, how he built a 3D printer by himself when he was just 12 — but the moments around the crash and aftermath loom large. She recalled seeing her son in a coffin at his funeral on March 12. Her mental health struggles. How her son was so caring, but the act that took him was "so careless," she said.
“Nothing will make this family whole again," she said. "Nothing will make my heart whole again, either."
She pointed to Morones' history of traffic violations, which included two DUI convictions from 2001 and 2010. Both DUI charges resulted in plea deals. He received probation as a sentence for those convictions, and she questioned how many more chances he would get.
In 2006, Morenes received a careless driving resulting in injury charge, which ended in a plea agreement as well.
The boy's father, Robert Mackiewicz, echoed her, saying the defendant never had to face any real consequences.
“The rules of the road are there for a reason — to protect us and save lives," he said passionately to the judge.
He stressed that other drivers stopped at the red light that Morones drove through and that this crash was not an accident. Robert Mackiewicz said he immigrated to the United States and experienced plenty of challenges that he was able to overcome, but this one has left him lost.
“Now, I don’t know who I am. I cannot accept the way my son was killed. I don’t know if I will ever find a new meaning in my life, as my son was my life," he said. "...As a father, I never would have thought I would have to face the day I have to bury my son."
Alex was on his way to a special day at school, he explained. His first baseball practice of the season was that afternoon, and he had a brand new mitt. Alex didn't deserve to die in this "horrific way," his father said.
Helena Bernal, Alex's older sister, told the court that the tragedy had broken apart her family. She said she hoped the world could see how much Alex was loved.
“One boy died but his death has killed a piece of us, all of us," she said. "He was the world to everybody.”
Alex's stepfather, Owen Cegielski, told the court that the first time he "felt whole" in his life was when he met Alex and his mother Victoria Cegielski. Owen Cegielski's son, who also spoke in court, and Alex grew up together for several years. It was the happiest time of his life, the stepfather said, until the family's joy was snatched away by a preventable traffic accident.
He was among several people in the courtroom who argued that while the judge could only impose a sentence based on current state laws, the penalties surrounding careless driving resulting in death in Colorado do not serve as a deterrence.
Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly said the Highlands Ranch community, and others around Colorado, have been shocked by the low penalty for that criminal charge — a maximum of 12 months in jail and a $1,000 fine. He said he is working with the family and lawmakers to amend the penalties for the charge.
- Following the sentencing, Alex's family and Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly addressed the media, calling for harsher punishments in such cases. Watch the full press conference below.
“You shouldn't be able to kill somebody in this state and throw the penalty on your credit card," the sheriff said. "... He may be very sorry, but also needs to be held fully accountable for what he did and what he is responsible for."
Sheriff Weekly wept in court recalling — with permission from Alex's mother — the scene that he responded to that day in Highlands Ranch. He said it was one of the most heart-wrenching crashes he had seen in his 31 years in law enforcement. He also watched body-worn camera footage of Victoria Cegielski arriving at the intersection.
"I watched and heard what I can only describe as a primal sound of agony only a mother could make when she is told by the commander on scene that her child — her baby, who she could see under a sheet across the street — didn't make it," he said.
The sheriff said he cried at his desk watching the videos.
The prosecution said Alex had crossed six of seven lanes of traffic before he was hit — he was just feet away from safety and still had the walk signal at the light. The prosecutor said the car, with its load, weighed nearly three tons and was going about 40 mph at the time of the crash. It was a Sherwin-Williams work van.
“When you cause a crash and kill a child in our community, there must be a consequence," Senior Deputy District Attorney Corrie Caler said, asking for the maximum sentence.
Morones' defense attorney, Adam Goldstein, was quick to acknowledge the tragedy of the case and how nothing said in court on Tuesday would minimize the family's loss. He noted that Morones, who has lived in the Littleton area for more than 20 years, was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and was not speeding. It was just a "horrible" and "unspeakable" accident, Goldstein said.
“There is no hint of any aggravating factors that make this accident anything more than just an accident," he said.
The notion that the sun's glare prevented Morones from seeing the traffic light or Alex does not "lessen what happened," "but does explain what happened," the defense said.
Morones’ brother-in-law also addressed the court, saying that Morones was a kind and helpful man who was deeply affected and traumatized by the crash. He asked for a sentence that would allow him to continue working to support his family.
Through a translator, Morones also spoke, where he said he had been devastated by the crash, but knows Alex's loved ones are suffering more. He said he takes responsibility for the crash and asked for forgiveness.
With statements over, Judge Bowling said the crash could have been "so easily avoided" if Morones had slowed down to see the traffic light.
He then sentenced Morones to one year of jail and authorized him the ability to apply for work release as long as somebody drove him from jail to work, and then back to jail in the evening. The judge said the sheriff's office has the right to override that decision regarding the work release program. He also imposed a $1,000 fine.
"It is clear he was an extraordinary young man," Judge Bowling said of Mackiewicz as the hearing ended around 6 p.m. Tuesday. "I hope through the years, the grief will lessen and the beautiful memories of him that you have… at some point, it will start to replace the grief.”
Following the sentencing, Alex's mother Victoria Cegielski addressed a crowd of reporters. She said her goal is to change Colorado statute, hoping that one day a case like her son's will be considered involuntary manslaughter, a felony.
The family plans to file a civil wrongful death lawsuit against Morones.
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