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‘Hate the way you handled the aftermath’| Woman sentenced to 6 years for hit-and-run that killed skateboarder in West Hartford

The body of Issac Alvarez, 19, was discovered along Albany Avenue by a jogger in April, 2020.

HARTFORD, Conn — The family of Issac Alvarez has waited more than three years for a young dad at the start of his life.

“I do not hate you. I just hate the way you handled the aftermath of the accident,” Desiree Gonzalez said Monday at Superior Court in Hartford before Sharon Esson, of Hartford, was sentenced in her son’s death. “We will never know if he could have been saved.”

Esson, 56, a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), wiped away tears during emotional testimony from Issac’s family as they recounted how they will never be the same.

Issac’s body was discovered by a jogger on Albany Avenue in West Hartford after being left on the side of the road overnight in April 2020, at the onset of the pandemic when fewer cars were on the roads. 

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“The day it happened, I was going crazy looking for him until I got the phone call,” Issac’s father, Miguel Alvarez said. 

Issac Alvarez was working at McDonald’s to take care of a 6-month-old baby girl and 2-year-old son.

He was riding his skateboard home when hit by a car driven by Esson whom a jury previously convicted of evading responsibility. His cousin testified in the jacket Issac had on that day.

Esson apologized to the family for the first time Monday before Judge Frank D’Addabbo sentenced her to 6 years in prison, suspended after three.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know I hit somebody. If I knew I hit somebody, I would have stopped and helped. I didn’t know. When Iooked in my rearview mirror, I didn’t see no standing object. Look, I didn’t see nobody, Your Honor,” Esson said. 

Judge D’Addabbo calling the crime a tragedy and the sentence not at all a reflection on the value of Issac’s life. Esson’s crime: not calling 9-1-1 after the accident. 

The family tells Fox61 they are not happy with the sentence. Esson’s attorney says he plans to appeal.

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