MERIDEN - Weeks after a young mother was killed while protecting her 7-year-old daughter, an arrest has been made and the suspect appeared in court.
Alex Checa, 21, of Meriden, has been charged for the hit-and-run after police found him responsible for the death of Dania Cedeno-Delrosario, 40, on October 7.
Cedeno-Delrosario and her daughter, Denisse Guerrero, were getting out of their car and crossing the street when another vehicle approached them without slowing down. Cedeno-Delrosario quickly pushed her little girl out of the way, but she was hit by the car and thrown, eventually getting pinned under a parked car. Cedeno-Delrosario died at the hospital. Her daughter was hospitalized with minor injuries and released.
The vehicle suspected of hitting her drove off without stopping.
When Checa was in court on Thursday, he was very emotional, crying while the judge spoke.
Checa's mother, Veronica Soria, said that Checa "wants to say sorry to the family." She added that she's "sorry too."
"I talked to him and I said please tell me the truth," said Soria. "He told me that it happened and said 'mommy believe me, I never saw the misses.'"
Checa's brother, Boris Soria, echoed what his mother said, adding he hopes the families can come together during this difficult time.
"Please, for us, I don't want them to look at us like monsters or nothing like that, it was just an accident. This happens and it's not good for any of us. I just want us to communicate. I really would like to talk to the family because I know that they're thinking some stuff that probably aren't nice. I'm just going to keep them in my prayers and hope they do that for us too."
The vehicle that police say Checa was driving at the time of the crash was found in Patterson, New Jersey, and was picked up by Meriden Police on Thursday to be processed in Connecticut.
Checa is charged with evading responsibility causing the death of a person, tampering with or fabricating physical evidence and operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license. He was initially held on $250,000 bond before appearing in court on Thursday.
According to police, Checa spoke to officers at the Meriden Police Department on Tuesday as part of their investigation into the crash, and then Checa then turned himself in to Meriden Police on Wednesday at 3:40 p.m. after learning of a warrant out for his arrest.
He will next appear in court November 17, according to online judicial records.
