BRISTOL–Less than two weeks before Christmas in 2015, two young girls were killed in a senseless crash.
On December 13, 2015, Kayla Torres, 31, of Meriden, was driving her daughters, Veronica Martinez, 7, and Yvette Martinez, 4, and her cousin when police say another car crossed the center line and hit the family’s car head-on in Bristol. Torres had picked up her daughters after work, then picked up her cousin. They were heading home at the time of the crash.
Veronica and Yvette were killed, and Kayla and her cousin, Miguel Melendez, 35, were seriously injured in the crash.
The driver of that other car, Michael Luponio, had a .24 blood alcohol level at the time of the crash and was speeding.
Court documents say a Southington Police officer saw Luponio speeding, but did not pursue the vehicle because it was going over the town line into Bristol. Luponio’s arrest warrant also details a witness’s account of several road rage incidents with Luponio prior to the crash. That witness reportedly flagged down Officer Vose to tell him what happened. Torres is suing the Southington Police Department and the town of Southington, saying they could have done more to prevent the crash.
In February, Luponio was charged with two counts of second-degree manslaughter with a motor vehicle, three counts of second-degree assault with a motor vehicle, operating under the influence, reckless driving and having no insurance.
On October 18, Luponio agreed to a plea deal. That deal includes a 30-year prison sentence, suspended after 15 years, plus five years of probation. The plea was accepted, and he was formally sentenced on December 15, just two days after the one-year anniversary of the young girls’ deaths.
