Green Bay teen pleads guilty to homicide charge for 2022 crash that killed Milwaukee teen

Kelli Arseneau, Green Bay Press-Gazette
·3 min read

GREEN BAY – A 16-year-old girl pleaded guilty Monday to second-degree reckless homicide for a high-speed crash in Green Bay that killed a Milwaukee teen in 2022.

Sienna Pecore of Green Bay also pleaded guilty to second-degree recklessly endangering safety. Charges of hit and run involving death, taking and driving a vehicle without consent and first-degree recklessly endangering safety were dismissed as part of a plea deal.

Pecore's sentencing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. April 4. She could get up to 25 years in prison for the homicide charge, and an additional 10 years in prison for the endangering safety charge.

Cruz Beltron of Milwaukee, a passenger in the car driven by Pecore, was fatally injured in the crash.

The following information is from a criminal complaint:

  • Around 7:40 p.m. Oct. 30, 2022, police were dispatched to West Mason Street and South Oneida Street for a report of a three-vehicle accident with injuries.

  • Witnesses told police a white sedan was traveling at high speeds eastbound on West Mason Street where it swerved to avoid cars stopped at a red light, crashing into a gray vehicle turning left onto the westbound lane of West Mason Street. The sedan continued, running head-on into a blue truck stopped at a red light in the westbound lane of West Mason Street.

  • The driver and passenger of the blue truck received cuts to their hands but were able to get out of the truck and wait for first responders to arrive. The driver of the gray vehicle was able to move their car to a nearby parking lot and wait for police. The driver denied medical attention.

  • When police and first responders arrived on scene, they found a group of people around a white sedan, where someone performed CPR on Bertram. He was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead before 8:30 p.m.

  • Witnesses said they saw people flee from the scene and get into a white Jeep, which drove away.

  • The day after the crash, investigators spoke to Pecore, then 15 years old. She was taken to the Green Bay Police Department from the hospital, where she was treated for a broken arm.

  • Pecore told police that earlier in the afternoon before the crash, she took her mother's vehicle without her mother's knowledge and picked up a friend and went to the mall. She said she drove the vehicle again that afternoon and evening to and from a friend's house. At the time of the crash, she had two passengers in the car.

  • Pecore told investigators that while driving on West Mason Street before the crash, she saw two of her friends in a white SUV. She also admitted to speeding, although said she did not think she was traveling over 55 miles per hour.

  • Investigators determined Pecore was driving between 116 and 123 mph moments before the crash. The posted speed limit was 35 mph.

  • Pecore said she "really did not remember what happened" but recalled her vehicle's airbags going off and the vehicle spinning out, then getting into the white SUV driven by her friend. When officers asked why she did not stay at the scene or contact law enforcement, she said she "did not really know and that she was scared."

Contact Kelli Arseneau at 920-213-3721 or karseneau@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @ArseneauKelli.

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Green Bay teen pleads guilty in 2022 crash that killed Milwaukee teen