I vividly remember the first car ride with my newborn son even eight years later. Even though I had been through a fairly major car accident prior to having him, I never truly felt how dangerous a car was until his precious little life was in it. Going over small bumps felt like careening over cliffs. Being alongside drivers just five miles over the speed limit felt like being on a NASCAR track. My husband, who would admittedly zoom just a smidge faster than he should have, now happily cruises a the speed limit in the farthest right lane when my son is in the back seat, just in case.
While there are a million things we cannot insulate my child from, as a parent, I can’t imagine taking unnecessary risks. However on April 3, 2026, one Central California dad wasn’t nearly as responsible or cautious, and it cost him his 16-year-old son’s life.
Edgar Banuelos, 37, sped at 100 mph, allegedly intoxicated, with his son Edgar Jeremiah Banuelos-Gonzalez, 16, in the car.
According to Law & Crime, as of Monday April 20, the dad is now charged with one count each of murder in the second degree and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, as well as three counts of child abuse for endangering a child under circumstances likely to produce great bodily injury. On April 22, KSBW reported that the father appeared in court in a wheelchair.
He was allegedly driving at the extreme speed in a 25 mph zone with three of his children in the back seat.
“We take that extraordinarily seriously. But when you combine that with driving at this speed in a residential area, it constitutes murder,” Monterey County Chief Assistant District Attorney Berkley Brannon said, per KSBW.
Authorities say he lost control of the vehicle, veered off the road, and crashed into a tree, causing the car to burst into flames. The crash happened in an unincorporated area of Monterey County.
“The car was going so fast, it became airborne over a small hill,” Brannon continued. “He had three children in the car, three of his children. And he had alcohol in his system. And one of the kids, the 16-year-old, ended up burning in the car.” He pleaded not guilty.
Luckily, the two younger brothers, who are 14 and 7, survived the crash and were treated for moderate injuries.
The father suffered some major injuries. “This isn’t a story about, you know, driving under the influence, even. This is a story about just a willful and wanton disregard for human life,” Brannon noted. “He was very close to his house. I mean, this was totally unnecessary.”
Jessica Gonzales, the boy’s mother, said in a previous interview with with KSBW that she was disheartened to hear the boy’s father was charged with murder as he was “always there” for his children.
“We don’t have room for hate in our heart. Just love and peace,” Gonzalez stated. “I ask the community to please don’t have anger toward anyone. Toward his dad. Let’s forgive.”
The father is being held on a $1.4 million bail and is set to appear in court on May 6.
“I want to make sure that everyone knows how grateful me and my family and my kids are,” Gonzales said in another earlier KSBW interview. “My baby boy Edgar. Was a really, really great kid. Who always brought a smile to everyone. No matter how upset they were, he always tried to be silly.”
