Soccer player found guilty of homicide in deaths of newlyweds

Professional soccer player Joao Maleck has been found guilty of two counts of aggravated homicide resulting from a traffic accident in 2019. 

The son of Jean-Claude Maleck, a French-Cameroonian soccer player who came to Mexico in 1998 to play for the Tecos soccer club, Joao Maleck plowed his Ford Mustang into a car at 9 a.m. on June 23 in Zapopan, Jalisco, killing a newlywed couple who had married the night before. 

Maleck, who was playing for the Seville Athletic Club at the time and vacationing in his hometown of Guadalajara, had posted numerous photos to social media the night before from a nightclub where he had been partying until very late.

Maleck, 20 at the time, was found to have been speeding and had alcohol in his system at the time of the accident. 

The soccer star, who has been jailed in Guadalajara since June 24, 2019, was found guilty Friday after a three-day trial. His sentencing will take place on October 30, and he could face a 10-year sentence minus time served, although his lawyers are hoping for four years of probation. 

Maleck will also have to pay a fine for damages to the couple’s relatives that is expected to be between 800,000 and 1 million pesos, or US $38,300 to $47,900.

Source: El Universal (sp), Milenio (sp)