By Alexa Epitropoulos | aepitropoulos@alextimes.com
A Fairfax County man was sentenced on counts of DUI-related aggravated vehicular manslaughter and DUI on Thursday, the Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney announced Friday.
Simon Urbina Vasquez, 27, was charged after a serious auto on South Henry Street in Old Town that killed his brother and seriously injured his brother’s fiancee. The incident occurred July 8.
Urbina Vasquez was sentenced to serve 10 years in prison for aggravated vehicular manslaughter, a felony, with all but three years and three months of the sentenced suspended. He was sentenced to serve 12 months in jail, with all but 11 months of the sentence suspended, on the count of DUI, a misdemeanor. Upon his release from prison, he will be on supervised probation for five years.
Urbina Vasquez’ driving privileges were revoked indefinitely.
The investigation established Urbina Vasquez was driving his truck between 60 to 80 miles per hour on Henry Street, where the posted speed limit is 25. When he reached the intersection with Duke Street, where Henry curves to the left, the defendant drove his truck off the roadway, after which he struck a tree and fence.
The truck flipped twice and landed in the roadway. He was traveling 70 miles per hour at the time of the impact, according to a crash data recorder in the truck.
Urbina Vasquez’s brother, Jose Wuilver Urbina Vasquez, was in the backseat of the truck at the time and was pronounced dead at the scene due to blunt force trauma to his head. His fiancee, who hasn’t been named, had been in the front passenger seat. She suffered a fractured pelvis and spine. She called police, according to witnesses at the scene.
Alexandria police arrested Urbina Vasquez after arriving on the scene. They performed a breath alcohol test that showed Urbina Vasquez’ blood alcohol level was .17, over twice the legal limit. He was not injured in the crash, according to the news release.
Urbina Vasquez has been in custody in the William G. Truesdale Alexandria Adult Detention Center since his arrest on July 8 and will remain there until his transfer to the Department of Corrections.
