He was driving his car through Roquetas de Mar, in Almería, quadrupling the maximum level of alcohol allowed and exceeding the established speed limits when he overtook, on a two-way road, another vehicle that had stopped at a pedestrian crossing to let him cross. the street to several people. At that moment, the driver ran over Leire, a five-year-old girl who was walking hand in hand with her pregnant mother, displacing her several meters and causing her death.
Now, more than two years after that fateful July 6, 2021, the accused, a legionnaire by profession, has accepted the sentence of three years in prison for a crime of reckless driving and another of homicide due to serious recklessness, in addition to being punished for another six years of the right to drive motor vehicles and mopeds.
"It's quite hard because, if justice were done well, this person would at least be eating nine years in prison, not three, and accepting them to ensure that he gets in, because it is the only option we had to truly ensure that he was going to get in" in prison, added David López, father of the girl who was run over. The parents of the minor have thus assured, in relation to the agreement reached, that they would have preferred that the accused could be sentenced to "many more years" in prison.
It was today that the accused showed his agreement after prosecutor Manuel Hermoso reduced his initial request of four years in prison. However, the determination of the civil liability of Leire's parents and brother remains pending when the sentence is handed down, which the prosecutor sets at 92,606.83 euros for each parent and another 26,760.11 euros for the "conceived and unborn child." “born” from the mother, while the lawyer for Leire's family, Juan Manuel Medina, asks that it be about 250,000 euros plus appropriate interest.
The legionnaire has admitted driving under the influence of alcohol. The test that was performed showed a rate of 0.99 grams of alcohol per liter of air and in the repetition, the rate dropped to 0.88, almost quadrupling the maximum allowed. In a previous statement, the convicted man has made an unofficial statement in which he has assured that that day he drank “two or three beers” while he ate, in addition to a drink in the rock neighborhood of Aguadulce, since he has insisted that while he was driving He did not drink, although he did carry with him a “glass of tonic and gin” that he planned to drink when he got home.
On the other hand, in terms of speed, as stated in the police report, the vehicle he was driving was traveling at a speed higher than that established in an area full of pedestrian crossings. The limit was 50 km/hour but the convicted man was traveling at 78 km/hour. Thus, he has acknowledged that he was not looking steadily at the odometer and has stressed that he did not overtake the other car, but rather overtook it because he was already driving indefinitely in the left lane. “I was surprised by the girl,” he expressed, since he has defended that he tried to go to the side to avoid her, but without achieving her objective, so he finally ran over her.
Leire "was hit by the accused's vehicle, and dragged under it for a few meters, until it finally stopped; as a result of which the girl died, almost instantly, from severe head trauma with a skull fracture at the base and subarachnoid hemorrhage. ".
"I'm sorry. At no time did I imagine that that day would end like this (…) I really am very sorry. What happens to me, I don't care. I am sorry for the events of that day. I have tried to contact the parents several times. First they told me it was too soon. Then I tried to send them a letter through the lawyers. I understand that they did not want to know anything about me,” said the accused when taking the last word.
Leire's parents, who requested a trial by popular jury when considering the facts could fit as an alleged crime of intentional homicide based on jurisprudence (something that was rejected by the Provincial Court) neither believe nor accept the apologies of the individual who ran over to your daughter. Rocío Muñoz, the minor's mother, was able to attend the last part of the oral hearing today with her husband, and upon leaving she declared that "I have neither believed anything nor accept it. It seems absurd to me that she has lost forgiveness when she has not "At no point has he shown empathy, he has not shown anything. The only thing he has shown is that he only cared about his safety, what happened to him," he said, every time he stressed that the defense offered him 70,000 euros to avoid trial.
