A FedEx truck driver who was accused of killing a former Long Island rack and his two children in a crash reportedly looked at his phone 25 times and “periodically tapped and wiped” before causing the fatal wreck.
Santos Valentin, 30, bumped into a Honda Civic with Donnell Hickson, 43, his son Decir, 18, and his 11-year-old daughter Kyla on the Turnpike of Pennsylvania on July 20, 2024, while he was driving in his Fedex-Tractor tractor, Wkbn reported.
Researchers said that the enormous power of the crash ensured that both vehicles were pushed off the road and that the delivery car landed on the car.
Hickson, who was a resident of Baldwin, and his two children were declared dead on the spot. Valentin was taken to the hospital but survived.
Valentin changed himself in the police on Thursday after being accused of three crime counts of murder by a vehicle after officers of justice claimed that he used his phone around the time of the collisions, according to Court reports submitted on 12 February.
The delivery person – who was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the wreck – said the police that the Hickson Civic “came out of nowhere” when they collided and he drove at a speed of about 65 to 75 km / h.
Dash camera images in the FedEx truck, however, paints a different image.
Justice officers say that the images see Valentin “use his mobile for a longer period well before the crash”, and he had done this about 48 seconds before the fatal collision.
“Valentin looks down or looks at his phone a total of 25 times. In the same 48 seconds, Valentin looks up or takes a look at the road a total of 20 times “and was observed” periodically tapping and sweeping on the screen ” News day.
Seconds before the crash, the Honda ran to the east in the left lane but changed to the right -hand lane for the Fedex truck and stopped.
Researchers still have to determine why the Honda stopped abruptly.
Valentin placed his bail at $ 300,000 by Magisterial District Judge Joseph Stauffer after being held in the Lancaster County Prison on Thursday.
A provisional hearing is not yet planned.
A crowdfunding -page to support Hickson’s wife and the mother of Kyla, Keisha, and his mother, Martinique, says that the “great” father of two “was always that person to illuminate every room that came in her with his big personality.”
Hickson was also an all-American and all-state triple jumper York College in Jamaica, Queensand participated in the NCAA championships 2005.
His son, Decir, prepared to go to the university for a few weeks before being killed in the wreck.
His 11-year-old daughter was described as “very creative with dreams of making her own cartoon show one day.”
“Donnell, Decir and Kyla were beloved members of our community,” wrote page organizers, Frances Crooks and Lakeisha Barron-Williams. “Their loss is felt deeply by everyone who knew them.”
