|
Only have a minute? Listen instead
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
A 21-year-old San Juan man pleaded guilty Thursday to a fatal 2022 Thanksgiving hit-and-run crash.
Manuel Ramirez Canchola, who reached a plea deal with prosecutors, was sentenced to six years in prison with credit for the nearly two years he has spent in the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Center.
Canchola was driving a 2015 Nissan Altima that day near the 1000 block of S. Cage Boulevard in Pharr at about 10:14 p.m. when he hit and killed 54-year-old Gilberto Delgado and left the location. He was 19 at the time.
After he surrendered and confessed, Pharr police charged him with accident involving death.
His passenger, 21-year-old Pharr resident Natalie Monique Carreon, was charged with failure to report a felony involving death.
She has pleaded not guilty to the charge, which is a misdemeanor. She was also 19 at the time.
The affidavits for their arrests said that another vehicle was involved in the crash, but that driver stayed at the scene.
She told police she hit Delgado, but not before another vehicle hit him and left the scene.
The woman told investigators she was traveling north on Cage from Ridge Road when she noticed a dark colored truck in the center lane and a small SUV on the right shoulder. She switched lanes, felt a bump and stopped and spoke with responding officers.
Another witness said he was traveling north on Cage from Ridge Road when he saw a 2000 model, black passenger vehicle passing on the right shoulder lane hit Delgado and leave the scene, according to the affidavit.
Investigators recovered surveillance video that showed Canchola’s vehicle with extensive damage to the front end. The video shows a man get out of the driver seat trying to fix the vehicle’s hood before taking off, according to the affidavit.
Police later recovered the vehicle.
