Judge sentences man living in Carolinas illegally for hit-and-run killing toddler

FLAT ROCK, N.C. (FOX Carolina) - A man who was illegally living in western North Carolina has been sentenced for a crash in August 2021 that killed a toddler.

On Friday a judge gave 32-year-old Aaron Santos-Pinzon of Mexico the maximum sentence for death by vehicle and hit-and-run causing death.

Santos-Pinzon was driving when his SUV struck and killed a 3-year-old girl who was riding her tricycle in front of her home on Pleasant Court. He left the scene and officials put out an alert to law enforcement agencies in the area with a description of the vehicle and driver.

A deputy with the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office spotted Santos-Pinzon headed south on Highway 25 near the border to South Carolina. When he was taken into custody, officials said he was slurring his speech and unsteady on his feet. His blood-alcohol content was .10 on a breathalyzer test.

Santos-Pinzon admitted he had been drinking.

He was sentenced to a minimum of 100 months in prison. He will be extradited back to Mexico after serving his sentence, officials said.

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