Cape Coral woman sentenced to more than 15 years for crash that killed 3-year-old daughter

Reporter: Tiffany Rizzo Writer: Matthew Seaver
Published: Updated:
Leslie Zeagler and he attorney in court on July 28, 2022. (Credit: WINK News)

A Cape Coral woman accused of crashing her car, resulting in her daughter’s death, after blacking out while under the influence of drugs pled no contest and was sentenced Thursday.

Leslie Zeagler, 32, pled no contest to the charges of aggravated manslaughter of a child and DUI manslaughter in court on Thursday. She was sentenced to more than 15 years in prison (184 months), followed by 10 years probation.

Car crash that killed Serenity Rose Robinsonin February 2020. (Credit: WINK News)

Zeagler was arrested in April 2020 following a crash on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in Fort Myers on Feb. 17, 2020. Fort Myers police said that she blacked out, left the road, and struck several trees near Rockfill Road. The vehicle rolled, and Zeagler’s 3-year-old daughter, Serenity Robinson, was ejected.

Zeagler’s daughter was taken to the hospital after the crash but later died.

Serenity Rose Robinson. (Credit: Shared with WINK News.)

An investigation by police determined that there was no child restraint device in the vehicle, and Serenity was not restrained at the time of the crash. Zeagler was found to be under the influence of multiple controlled substances.

Zeagler’s family was in the courtroom on Thursday and were emotional.

After Serenity’s death, WINK News learned that a Fort Myers police officer previously stopped Zeagler and found drugs in her car, along with her daughter.

In that case, the officer is supposed to call DCF but did not. Fort Myers police fired that officer.

Serenity’s father, Randy Robinson, did not show up in court for sentencing but spoke with WINK News in 2021. “It upsets me, man, my baby could be here if he had done what he was supposed to do.”

Zeagler’s attorney asked the judge if she could have contact with her mother before leaving the courtroom. The judge denied the request.

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