{"id":417087,"date":"2025-12-01T11:34:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T11:34:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/417087\/"},"modified":"2025-12-01T11:34:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T11:34:11","slug":"jacksonville-man-who-pleaded-guilty-to-running-over-killing-8-month-old-son-to-appear-in-court-for-sentencing-hearing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/417087\/","title":{"rendered":"Jacksonville man who pleaded guilty to running over, killing 8-month-old son to appear in court for sentencing hearing"},"content":{"rendered":"

JACKSONVILLE, Fla.<\/strong> \u2013 A Jacksonville man who pleaded guilty to running over and killing his 8-month-old son was set to appear in court Monday morning for a sentencing hearing.<\/p>\n

Justin Golden, the father of Pablo Golden, will appear in Duval County court at 9 a.m. after pleading guilty to aggravated manslaughter of a child in September.<\/p>\n

Warning: There may be possible graphic details about this incident.<\/b><\/p>\n

According to the Jacksonville Sheriff\u2019s Office, the tragic event unfolded during an argument between Golden and the mother of his child in January near Lenox and McDuff avenues. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe driver (Justin Golden) stopped the vehicle at the intersection, opened the door, and placed the child on the ground,\u201d JSO reported in January. \u201cThe driver then began to leave the area, and the vehicle struck the child.\u201d<\/p>\n

In February, Golden\u2019s mother Rose Harden told News4Jax\u2019s Briana Brownlee<\/a> that the incident was not intentional but a tragic accident. Both families said they have been grieving together over the loss of baby Pablo.<\/p>\n

Pablo\u2019s death has not only devastated his family but also impacted the Jacksonville community. Described by his maternal grandmother as a bright and happy baby with the prettiest smile, Pablo\u2019s life was tragically cut short before he could reach his first birthday.<\/p>\n

Baby Pablo (Provided by family)<\/p>\n

RELATED | <\/b>\u2018He was our little sunshine\u2019: Family holds vigil for 8-month-old who was killed after being hit by car<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

At a sentencing hearing in November,<\/a> Detective Justin Brown spoke about Golden\u2019s reaction after learning his son died. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe became very animated. Several times, he asked, \u2018Am I going to get in trouble for this?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

During the hearing, Golden\u2019s mother and sister also spoke, describing him as someone who is honest, caring and who stays up at night because he knows his son is gone. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe wasn\u2019t in trouble. He didn\u2019t hang out in the streets. He was a momma\u2019s boy. He was about family,\u201d the sister said. <\/p>\n

In a letter obtained by News4JAX, Golden pleads with the judge to help him avoid a prison sentence, saying he knows he\u2019s still young and doesn\u2019t want to spend the next chapter of his life in a system that his mother fought hard to keep him from. <\/p>\n

The full letter can be read below.<\/p>\n

\n

The tragic incident that happened in January with my son was an accident. Never in life would I have ever expected that I was going to take my own son\u2019s life. I still can\u2019t believe it. The harsh reality that I won\u2019t get to hold him, kiss him, play with him, or ever watch him grow up makes me wish I could change placos with him. I wish I could go back to that day and do it differently. People have passed Judgement on me, not knowing what the circumstances were. Either way, they don\u2019t know the burden that I carry each and every day that resides on my soul. I wouldn\u2019t wish this on no one.. The only person who\u2019s really in my corner is my mother. Even then, her sorrow reflects how much pain this loss has cast upon us all. I know how my mother feels. The same way she might not ever accept this, I won\u2019t accept it either. I just pray and ask for forgiveness From her. Only me and God know that I\u2019m truly sorry. I believe we both made a mistakes that day. What I won\u2019s accept is people believing we both failed as parents. I know now the responsibility that comes with being a parent. Not only do I have a duty to my children, I have a duty to protect everyone else\u2019s children from unexpected dangers that\u2019s preventable. <\/p>\n

Your honor, the last time I wrote a letter to you, I mentioned some of my mom\u2019s struggles. As my mother\u2019s last born child, I have to admit that I hate knowing that my mother\u2019s struggles are only becoming worse. As a black woman, especially being a middle-aged woman (She has tried all her life to do the right thing- All the hardship that is being placed upon her is something that she doesn\u2019t deserve. She needs as much help as she can get. I\u2019m one of the people who made sure, no matter what. That\u2019s something that I know she\u2019d do for me. my mother needs me more than ever right now. Not only that, I don\u2019t want to go to prison. I have never been in trouble a day in my life. Prison is for hard criminals who knows that their intent is to commit a crime. If I\u2019m guilty of anything, it\u2019s being guilty of an accident, that was caused by a mistake that I made. I feel putting me in prison is only going to endanger my life more, being that my case is globally known around the world. If I can ask you for anything, it would be me asking you for help. I know that I\u2018m still young and I don\u2019t want to spend the next chapter of my life in a system that my mother has fought hard to keep me away from. I know my life hangs in the balance of your hands. I\u2019m asking you to help me. Help me succeed in life as if I were your son and you were my mother. I\u2019d want to be successful just like you.<\/p>\n

Letter written by Justin Golden<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

An impact statement from Pablo\u2019s mother was read as well. <\/p>\n

\u201cNow every day, I have to wake up and relive this event from January 25, 2025. It\u2019s going to mess with my social life, work, and even being around family because I have to hear what everyone remembers doing with Pablo Golden.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under the current plea deal, Justin Golden could face a maximum of 30 years for aggravated manslaughter of a child. <\/p>\n

Golden was also originally charged with vehicular homicide and faced a maximum of 60 years for both charges combined, but that charge was dropped. <\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2013 A Jacksonville man who pleaded guilty to running over and killing his 8-month-old son was…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":417088,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5136],"tags":[5229,3188,723,7310,8423,195385,195386,52,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-417087","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jacksonville","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-fl","10":"tag-florida","11":"tag-jacksonville","12":"tag-jso","13":"tag-justin-golden","14":"tag-pablo-golden","15":"tag-top-stories","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-united-states-of-america","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","20":"tag-us","21":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115644102457494727","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=417087"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417087\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/417088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=417087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=417087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=417087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}