Deputies arrested a former South Florida youth pastor on Sunday for the car crash that killed his 8-year-old daughter and injured two other children.
Joel Leiniz, 38, is charged with vehicular homicide and DUI manslaughter in connection with the January crash along Military Trail in Greenacres. Leiniz told investigators he was driving home from a church concert with his children when he swerved to avoid another car, lost control of his Audi Q7 and struck a concrete pole.
According to his arrest report, Leiniz was driving 104 mph in a 40 mph zone near John I. Leonard High School seconds before the crash. His daughter, Zoë Leiniz of Margate, died at St. Mary’s Medical Center about an hour after.
Both Leiniz and his two other daughters, ages 12 and 6, were hospitalized for their own injuries. Nurses drew Leiniz’s blood, which tested above Florida’s legal limit for alcohol.
Before the crash, Leiniz worked as a youth pastor at New Covenant Church in Pompano Beach. Defense attorney Anthony Genova said Leiniz resigned afterward and relied on Social Security survivor benefits, GoFundMe donations and help from his parents and sister, who moved in to help raise his two surviving daughters.
According to Genova, Leiniz learned of his arrest warrant while on a family vacation in North Carolina and returned to Florida to surrender himself. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Genova disputes both Leiniz’s suspected speed and drunkenness. In a court filing, he said a car driving 104 mph would have broken the concrete pole Leiniz struck, yet it remained intact. The attorney also said Leiniz’s elevated blood-alcohol reading could be due, in part, to the fact that doctors swabbed his arm with alcohol before inserting the needle.
“Our experts will be able to flesh this out,” he wrote.
Genova added that Zoë’s death came almost exactly a year after her mother — Leiniz’s high-school sweetheart, Sasha Leiniz — died of breast cancer.
This is a breaking story. Check back at www.PalmBeachPost.com for updates.
Hannah Phillips is a journalist covering public safety and criminal justice at The Palm Beach Post. Reach her at hphillips@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Ex-youth pastor arrested in DUI crash that killed his 8-year-old daughter
Reporting by Hannah Phillips, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Hannah Phillips, Palm Beach Post | USA TODAY Network
