A newly widowed Florida pastor crashed his car while speeding and driving drunk — killing one of his daughters nearly a year after losing her mom, according to police.
Joel Leiniz, 38, was driving with his three daughters at 104 mph in a 40 mph zone when he slammed into a concrete pole in West Palm Beach around 10 p.m. on January 17, according to cops who arrested him this week, CBS 12 reported.
His 2017 Audi Q7 burst into flames, killing his 8-year-old daughter, Zoe. The pastor and his other two daughters, Esperanza and Zoe, were also hospitalized with injuries.
Leiniz told cops he crashed while having to avoid an oncoming car while taking his kids to a Mexican restaurant after a church concert — and that he wouldn’t have been speeding because his daughters were in the car, the affidavit said.
But his Audi’s internal record showed he was doing 104 mph at the time, more than 60 mph over the 40 mph speed limit.
At the hospital, Leiniz was tested and had a 0.083 blood-alcohol concentration – just over Florida’s 0.08 legal limit — which was likely higher at the time of the crash, according to the documents.
The widower was arrested July 19 on vehicular homicide and driving under the influence manslaughter charges, records show.
His lawyer, Anthony Genova, asked for a lower bond than the $200,000 prosecutors sought, saying the “grieving, newly widowed father” had recently quit his job to care for his family after his wife’s death.
“You see less than a year before this terrible crash, his young wife died a slow death of cancer and he was the sole caretaker, which depleted his savings,” Genova told an initial court hearing, according to CBS 12.
“He’s an unemployed, widowed single father who relies entirely on Social Security survivor benefits for his children, the assistance of his live-in parents and sister,” the pastor’s lawyer said.
Leiniz wife Sarah — the mother to all three of his daughters — died on Jan. 26, 2025, almost exactly a year before the deadly crash, according to a fundraiser.
Leiniz had left one job at New Covenant Church around the time his wife died, but was working as a youth pastor at the church, according to his LinkedIn.
Leiniz pleaded not guilty and was granted bail of $150,000. It’s unclear when he’s expected to be back in court.
Leiniz’s lawyer and the New Covenant Church did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
