ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — The parents of Trenton Stewart, the Stetson University football player and Creekside High School graduate killed in a wrong-way DUI crash more than two years ago, tell Action News Jax they’ve caught the man they say destroyed his memorial at least eight times.
Mandi and Rob Stewart, Trenton’s mother and father, said they recently noticed items missing from Trenton’s memorial, which is located at the crash site on Old St. Augustine Road just east of the intersection at Bartram Park Boulevard.
From flowers to signs made in Trenton’s memory, the Stewarts said they first thought the city of Jacksonville or the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office may have taken some of the items down. But, after hiring a private investigator who hid cameras near the crash site, they said a man had been caught repeatedly visiting and vandalizing the memorial over a 10-day span.
“It’s hard for me to comprehend where this person is coming from,” Rob Stewart said, “this is sacred ground to our family, Trenton’s friends, our extended family.”
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The Stewarts shared pictures with Action News Jax of the man they say vandalized the memorial. He’s seen in the security camera photos carrying a bag, which the Stewarts said was used to throw away flowers left at the memorial. We have been asked not to share the man’s name or show his face, since the Stewarts aren’t pressing charges or filing a lawsuit at this time.
Action News Jax told you earlier this year when Ariel Monteagudo, the driver convicted of killing Trenton, was sentenced to 12 years in prison after the crash. The Stewarts don’t believe the man who was seen destroying the memorial is connected to Monteagudo, Trenton, or the Stewart family.
They said they have no clue why anyone may have done this.
“He’d sometimes visit two times a day, with no other intentions other than to tear down and trash the items that were left there,” Mandi Stewart said, “that’s fueled by something that I don’t understand.”
The Stewarts said they have informed the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office about what has happened at the memorial. We have contacted JSO to confirm that it has been notified and request any reports that may have been made, but we are still waiting for a confirmation.
The Stewart family, now, is asking for no more than their son’s memorial to be left alone.
“I just want Trenton’s name and his memory to be respected,” Mandi Stewart said.
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