SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) -- Angel Salgado pleaded guilty earlier this year to two counts of murder in the deaths of 8-year-old Malikai Romero and 4-year-old Mason Romero. The boys were riding in the back seat of a car with their mother and aunt in December 2023 when Salgado, driving a BMW without a license, led police on a pursuit and slammed into their vehicle. The crash sent the car down an embankment and into a tree, where it caught fire.

Family members filled the courtroom Thursday, many delivering emotional statements about the loss of the boys.

“Every day I wake up with a hole in my heart,” said their mother, Victoria Romero. “I miss my boys every single day, every moment — their laughter, their hugs, the sound of their feet running through the house.”

Relatives expressed both grief

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