NEW HAVEN, Conn. — In fatal crashes or a hit and run, families may never get justice for the loss of their loved one. However, three families are on the path to justice right now, after New Haven Police announced three arrests, including one conviction, for recent deadly crashes.
"The families you see here, are people that have lost someone because of a choice that a driver made. Make the right choice," said New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker, standing alongside the families of crash victims at The New Haven Police Department on Wednesday.
In the first case, which dates back to Sept. 6, 2021, 49-year-old Michael Santiago of New Haven was crossing the street near Chapel and Norton Streets, when he was struck, and killed.
Charles Artis has been charged in Santiago's death and convicted of manslaughter in the first degree, evading responsibility resulting in death, and more motor vehicle charges.
"The force of the collision caused Santiago to vault over the roof of the vehicle, break through the rear windshield, and become lodged in the rear compartment of the vehicle," said Cpt. Rose Dell with the New Haven Police Department.
Police said Artis left the scene, traveling more than eight minutes with Santiago's body attached to the car, before dumping his body on the side of the curb.
He was sentenced in February to 20 years in jail, suspended after 14 years.
"It is shocking to me and it should be shocking to everyone here, that people would make those kind of choices," Elicker said.
In the next case, police announced there was an arrest made in the Feb.7, 2022 fatal crash on Chapel St., near Central Ave. On that afternoon, around 12:16 p.m., police said Laura Gonzales drove through a red light, crashing into 73-year-old Manuel Rodrigues of Hamden, who was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Gonzales was charged with manslaughter in the first degree with a motor vehicle, and was found to be under the influence of cocaine, marijuana, opioids, and fentanyl.
"Sometimes you just say, 'Oh it's fine, it's fine, just having a couple of drinks you know, but, it's not okay when you hurt somebody else. And you have no way to bring that person back. So just, to be more responsible, everybody," said Isaura Ortega, who lost her cousin in a similar crash.
Police announced an arrest in that case, too, which ended in the death of 28-year-old Christian Sanchez-Martinez on March 11, 2021.
Police said around 1 a.m., Joseph Duarte was driving on Middletown Ave near the intersection of Flint St., when he hit Sanchez-Martinez.
"The force of the collision propelled the Toyota 114 feet north on Middletown Avenue," Cpt. Dell said. "The reconstruction of the crash revealed that Duarte was traveling 86 miles per hour 2.5 seconds prior to impact. This exceeds the posted speed limit by over 50 miles per hour."
Duarte has been charged with manslaughter in the 1st degree, manslaughter in the 2nd degree with a motor vehicle, misconduct with a motor vehicle, among other motor vehicle charges.
Police also found Duarte to be under the influence of alcohol, cocaine, and marijuana at the time of the crash.
Now, the family of Sanchez-Martinez is trying to get justice for him.
"He was such an amazing person. We all miss him," Ortega said.
Ortega said Sanchez-Martinez had moved to the West Haven from Mexico to get a job and raise money to bring his wife, and his children back home. Sanchez-Martinez's wife was pregnant at the time of the crash, and he never go to meet his second son.
"What am I going to do now? You know," said Antonio Rosales Martinez, Christian's Brother.
Now, the family is waiting for the next court date for Duarte, hoping they can find justice for their loves one's kids.
"We want to be here and we want to know like, what's going to happen. Not for us, but for the kids. We want more justice for him, for them," Ortega said.
In the meantime, they're spreading a message, asking everyone to be more careful while out on the road.
"If you don't care about your life, you should care about somebody else's life," Ortega said.
These arrests were the result of the work from the crash reconstruction team at the police department. Last year, they looked at 28 crashes, 16 of them deadly. This year, the team has investigated five crashes, three of which were fatal.
Julia LeBlanc is a reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jleblanc@fox61.com Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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