Illegal immigrant sentenced for '05 hit-and-run death
Saturday, July 21, 2007
By MATT DUNN
mdunn@sjnewsco.com
BRIDGETON -- Lazzaro Hernandez avoided eye contact with the family of 80-year-old Lita Miller.

Hernandez, a 37-year-old illegal immigrant, pleaded guilty last month to aggravated manslaughter and driving while intoxicated in connection with a 2005 hit-and-run accident on Bank Street in which Miller was killed.

Superior Court Judge Richard Geiger asked Hernandez if he wished to address the court at his sentencing Friday.

Hernandez, a father of two, had nothing to say for himself.

He was sentenced to 10 years in state prison, with 85 percent of that sentence to be served before he is eligible for parole.

"He stands by his guilty plea," said Jennifer Webb-McRae, a defense attorney representing Hernandez.

Prosecutors believe on Nov. 11, 2005, Hernandez was driving a vehicle which struck and killed Miller, of Bank Street, as she exited a van in front of her home.

Miller was being dropped off by family after attending the funeral of her sister-in-law.

She suffered multiple blunt force trauma as a result of the accident and died at the hospital a short time later.

"She was a wonderful mother and grandmother," said Miller's daughter, Shirley Curnutte, in a statement a victim-witness advocate read in court Friday. "She was going to be a great-grandmother, but never had the chance. We were like sisters joined at the hip and it's like (Hernandez) took a part of me away from me."

Family and friends of Miller sitting in the courtroom wore buttons with Miller's smiling portrait.

Several of Miller's family members were in the van with Miller right before she was hit and witnessed the horrendous accident.

After hitting Miller, Hernandez allegedly drove to the end of the street, exited his vehicle and took off on foot before being arrested by a citizen on the scene.

His blood alcohol level was later found to be three times the legal limit, according to Geiger.

Police had said empty beer cans were found in Hernandez's vehicle.

Geiger said this was Hernandez's fifth adult arrest.

Only 40 days prior to the accident on Bank Street, Hernandez was charged with driving with an expired driver's license, he added. That prior spring Hernandez was charged with driving without a license.

"I'm familiar with the streets of Bridgeton," Geiger remarked. "Bank Street is a narrow street in a 25 mile per hour zone. It's a crowded street with a lot of pedestrians. I find it particularly egregious for a person to be operating a motor vehicle (on Bank Street) at the rate (Hernandez) was -- while intoxicated. I'll leave it at that."

Geiger said Immigration and Customs Enforcement will be notified of Hernandez's immigration status, as he could face deportation at the completion of his sentence.

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