Cape Coral man sentenced to 15 years in fatal 2018 crash

A Cape Coral man was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in state prison after pleading guilty to a vehicular homicide charge stemming from a 2018 crash.

Brett Pelham, 18, was driving without a license in the morning hours of Oct. 25, 2018, when he ran a stop sign at a high rate of speed and slammed into a car in the intersection. The 33-year-old driver of that car, Jill Marie Mandeville, was killed.

The crash occurred at Nelson Road and Diplomat Parkway West. Police said the impact of the collision pushed Mandeville’s car 90 feet from the intersection.

Pelham was 16 at the time of the crash and was arrested Feb. 24, 2019. He was initially charged with and pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and driving without a driver’s license causing death, but the latter charge was reduced to driving without a license after a defense motion that the original two charges represented double jeopardy.

Pelham and his two passengers were seriously injured in the crash.