A Fort Myers teen begged for mercy months after the crash that killed his high school sweetheart as the slain girl’s mother said the driver broke seven laws in 10 minutes.
Issac Sales, 19, on July 31 pleaded no contest to charges of vehicular homicide in the 2025 crash that killed 17-year-old Jaciey Hogan and injured 32-year-old Dylan Parsons.
Sales’ defense attorney, Keri Armpriester, asked Lee Circuit Judge Nicholas Thompson for Sales’ release on bond until his sentencing, but Assistant State Attorney Martin Stark opposed the defense. Thompson ordered Sales into the Lee County Jail.
Stark has asked that Thompson sentence Sales as an adult, where he could face up to 15 years in prison for the vehicular homicide charge, while Armpriester asked that Sales be sentenced as a youthful offender.
Sales could face five years for the serious injury charge and both could run consecutive, totaling for up to 20 years. Thompson did not make a ruling and set Sales’ sentencing for next month.
According to an arrest affidavit from the Florida Highway Patrol, Sales was traveling between 85 mph and 87 mph when his car struck the SUV operated by a 31-year-old Lehigh Acres man. Hogan died at the scene.
“This is a very important day for Mr. Sales and the victims’ families,” Armpriester said.
Jaciey Hogan’s mother, Trisha Hogan, said she went above and beyond to investigate when she barely got answers from anyone.
“I know the real story,” Hogan said as she looked at Sales. “You broke seven laws in 10 minutes.”
Slain daughter was mom’s best friend
Hogan said she lost her best friend when Jaciey Hogan died March 12, 2025.
The grieving mother arrived at the courthouse with the urn that contained Jaciey Hogan’s ashes and reiterated to Sales that the crash left her with just that.
Hogan also held a series of portraits of Jaciey Hogan as she spoke. She recalled that the day her daughter tragically died she asked her mom to plug in her bicycle.
Moments later, Jaciey Hogan died at the intersection of Gladiolus Drive and Maida Drive, in Fort Myers, as she and Sales headed to South Fort Myers High School. The wreck happened about 6:45 a.m. March 12, 2025, just as the school bell rang and students lined at their desks for the first class of the day.
“Nobody wanted to tell me anything,” Trisha Hogan said as she recalled the terrifying moment when she learned her daughter was involved in a crash.
Jaciey Hogan was a community leader
Trisha Hogan said Jaciey Hogan was working two jobs, had a 3.9 GPA and had recently purchased a car with that hard-earned money.
“Jaciey was the apple of everyone’s eye,” Trisha Hogan said.
Her daughter also spent six months cleaning after Hurricane Ian slammed into Southwest Florida on Sept. 28, 2022, killing more than 100.
“We were just about to make it,” Trisha Hogan said, adding that Jaciey Hogan helped put bread on the table.
Trisha Hogan warned Issac Sales
Trisha Hogan testified that she warned Issac Sales she would fight tooth and nail if anything ever happened to her daughter.
The grieving mother said Jaciey Hogan had her driving privilege taken just days before the crash and was to ride the school bus. She said Sales bypassed her, taking her daughter’s life.
“I should’ve run a background check,” Trisha Hogan said, adding that she regretted not learning earlier that Sales in August 2024 received a citation for driving at 71 mph through a 45 mph zone.
Trisha Hogan also regretted that her daughter’s death came just months before the Dangerous Excessive Speeding Law, known commonly as the “super speeder law,” took effect July 1, 2025.
“You have sentenced me to a lifetime,” Trisha Hogan told Sales. She added that therapy has cost her $20,000. “You killed a girl that was only 17 for two days. My sweet Jaciey will never come home.”
Trisha Hogan said she and Jaciey Hogan sat down to eat a meal together for the last time two days before the fatal crash. They barely coincided as Jaciey Hogan had a full schedule at school and worked two jobs.
The grieving mother said she was planning her daughter’s graduation party when Jaciey Hogan died.
“We’re asking for the minimum,” Trisha Hogan said. “We’re asking for justice.”
‘God took my guardian angel’
Relatives of Jaciey Hogan left the courtroom just as Sales was about to begin his testimony on his own behalf.
“God took my guardian angel,” Sales said, adding that, “I have the deepest pain just knowing what my actions caused.”
Sales sobbed and had trouble reading through his handwritten statement. He added that Jaciey was his best friend.
Armpriester put her hand on Sales as he testified.
“She lives through us and she lives through me,” Sales said. “I take full accountability for my mistakes.”
Sales added that he is prepared to receive “justice for Jaciey, because that’s what we’re all here for.”
Convicted driver’s mom said she raised four children to take accountability
Ivy Martinez Sales, Sales’ mom, said her son has no violent history and has always been “husky, very sweet and defended other kids.”
“That’s what made him so sweet,” said Martinez Sales, who has raised four children.
Martinez Sales said that while Sales remained at the hospital after the wreck she reiterated accountability. Sales nodded, acknowledging his mother’s remark as he sobbed and dried tears with a tissue.
The crash left Sales with a broken hip and broken arm, Martinez Sales said, leading her to take three months from her nursing job.
Martinez Sales testified that “the emotional part was a hard process” and added that her son had been friends with Jaciey Hogan for at least three years. The Hogan family whispered from the gallery, saying it was a lie.
“He would say she made him a better person,” Martinez Sales said, later adding in tears that, “I want justice for Jaciey and her mom. I know she’s hurting.”
Sales put his head down and sobbed.
“That’s why we’re here, for justice for [Jaciey’s] mom,” Martinez Sales said.
Martinez Sales her son considered applying to trade schools and local colleges but put a pin in that, pending the resolution in the criminal case against him.
Educators described accused driver’s demeanor
Christie Knight, Krystal Lester and Cynthia Jeffcott, who taught Sales at some point at South Fort Myers High School, described him as a responsible and respectful student.
Knight said Sales was a “young man navigating the challenges” of adulthood and added that she does not make statements about students lightly. She said Sales never presented himself as careless.
“The Issac I’ve known for years isn’t defined by one tragic event,” Knight said.
Lester said Sales brought her and Knight a flower for Valentine’s Day just weeks before the crash.
Jeffcott said Sales “wouldn’t hurt a fly, as the idiom goes.”
“He did,” one of Jaciey Hogan’s relatives whispered in the gallery. “He killed someone.”
Injured crash victim had broken ribs, leg, hip
“This has taken a really long time,” Parsons said as he addressed the courtroom gallery.
The crash on his way to work left him with broken ribs a broken leg and a broken hip, leading him to miss work for seven months.
Sales’ defense agreed to $14,000 toward Parsons’ medical bills.
Parsons said he drives by the crash scene every day and added that, “I wish I had passed by five minutes earlier or later.” Parsons had just begun a left turn as Sales ran the red light.
“Jaciey deserves justice,” Parsons said.
‘An emotional roller coaster’
Jaciey Hogan’s uncle, Zachary Johnson, and grandmother, Sylvia Johnson, were among those who spoke on victim impact.
Zachary Johnson said he was shocked when he learned of his niece’s death
“The loss of Jaciey has been an emotional roller coaster,” he said.
Zachary Johnson said it felt like an “electric shock” and added that Jaciey Hogan “had a way of making people feel welcome.”
Jaciey Hogan spent time visiting family in Maine and had love for animals “and all living beings,” Zachary Johnson said.
“These memories are precious because they are all that we have left,” he said.
Sylvia Johnson said Jaciey Hogan was speechless only once in her life — when she visited her grandmother’s farm in Maine.
“He took everything from me,” Silvia Johnson addressed Sales. “The pain is unbearable. I can’t call her on the phone anymore.”
When high school graduation came, Sylvia Johnson said, she got to look at an empty chair with Jaciey Hogan’s picture.
Second uncle confronts convicted driver
Kevin Johnson, one of Jaciey Hogan’s uncles said “having a niece like that was the best thing that happened.”
He said the Sales family had been dishonest on the witness stand.
“There’s no justice for Jaciey,” Kevin Johnson said, adding that Jaciey Hogan never got to meet her little cousin in person and that the toddler only met the slain teen looking at the casket. “You failed to keep my niece safe.
“I don’t wish harm on you, but I wish you get the maximum sentence.”
Boots on the ground after hurricane
Andrew Wiersma, a close friend of Trisha Hogan who had known Jaciey Hogan for several years, said he met Jaciey Hogan while working on Fort Myers Beach.
Weirsma said the group of friends has always operated like family. He added that after Hurricane Ian devastated Southwest Florida in 2022, they “put their shoes on and went to work.”
The family friend said Jaciey Hogan’s jokes made everyone laugh.
“Our friendship wasn’t just cleaning after storms,” Weirsma said. He said he joked she would one day become the president of the U.S. due to her work ethic and charisma.
But that changed when he got the chilling call while he watered plants in his yard.
Weirsma said he collapsed.
“This world lost one of the good ones,” he said.
Weirsma grabbed a tissue as he stepped off the witness stand.
Jaciey Hogan’s best friend said slain teen made her feel safe
Jackie Lopez, Jaciey Hogan’s best friend, sighed and gasped before she began to address the gallery.
“This has been the hardest year of my life… not being able to be with Jaciey,” Lopez said.
Lopez said Jaciey Hogan made her feel safe and always knew when something was wrong.
“She had dreams… goals taken from her too soon,” Lopez said.
Lopez said she was at a doctor’s appointment when Trisha Hogan called her with the unimaginable news.
“I never thought I’d have to lose a best friend,” Lopez said. At graduation she held her slain friend’s cap and gown when she heard Sales’ voice.
“I heard, ‘One thing I’m gonna miss is being high in the halls'” Lopez recalled in tears. “Jaciey’s not here no more.”
When she left her doctor’s appointment the day of the tragic crash, Lopez recalled, she drove looking for Sales and Jaciey Hogan.
As she drove, Lopez said, she saw the wrecked cars.
“All I got was Issac’s fine, and I wanted to know where Jaciey was,” Lopez said.
After she finished her testimony, Lopez ran from the courtroom crying and screaming.
Sales faces sentencing before Thompson on Sept. 4.
What led to Issac Sales’ arrest?
Troopers said Sales nearly doubled the speed limit, traveling between 85 mph and 87 mph through a 45 mph zone when his car T-boned an SUV, killing Jaciey Hogan as they headed to school.
Troopers said they became trapped after the collision. First responders extracted them from the wrecked car.
According to troopers, Sales made “improper” lane changes as he passed traffic along Gladiolus Drive. Troopers indicated the area where Sales changed lanes was marked by a solid white line.
Troopers said authorities also had to extricate Parsons.
Malfunctioning headlight
When authorities spoke with Parsons, he said before he began his left turn, he saw two cars had stopped on the left and right lanes of Maida Lane for the red light, but he added he did not see any traffic in the center lane.
As he began his turn, Parsons reported he saw one headlight approaching into his direct path. He reported only Sales’ front passenger headlight was illuminated.
According to the report, Parsons tried to accelerate to avoid a collision with Sales, but said it was “too late.” He told authorities he believed Sales attempted to swerve right to avoid a collision.
Tomas Rodriguez is a Breaking/Live News Reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. You can reach Tomas at TRodriguez@usatodayco.com or 772-333-5501. Connect with him on Threads @tomasfrobeltran, Instagram @tomasfrobeltran, Facebook @tomasrodrigueznews and Bluesky @tomasfrodriguez.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: ‘Broke 7 laws in 10 minutes’: Mom demands justice in daughter’s death
Reporting by Tomas Rodriguez, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News / Fort Myers News-Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Tomas Rodriguez, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News | USA TODAY Network
