MIAMI (WSVN) - The accused driver behind a fatal DUI crash on Interstate 95 that left four people dead has pleaded not guilty.
Loved ones of the victims were present at the hearing for 42-year-old Lionel Orrego, Monday. Many came prepared with signs and shirts with the victim’s photos, demanding justice.
Orrego, who posted bond shortly after the August crash, has been placed on house arrest. He has been ordered to surrender his passport, and he will only be allowed to leave his home to go to work and meet with his attorney.
He will also have to wear a bracelet that monitors his alcohol consumption.
According to police, the crash happened when a group of good Samaritans stopped to help an injured member of a group of motorcyclists. Police said while the Samaritans were assisting, Orrego plowed into them.
The family of John Garzon, Meryl Diaz and Rose Benjamin were present at the court hearing. All three were among the good Samaritans killed that night.
“We just want justice. We lost a member of the family. He was young, full of life,” said Garzon’s aunt Yuri Pacheco as she fought back tears. “The driver had to be punished for killing. That’s all what I can say.”
“This guy needs help. He killed a lot of people, and I want to say that I forgive him,” said Rose Benjamin, speaking of her son Randy. “I forgive him for taking my son’s life, but he needs help because he should not be out on the streets.”
“We are in pain. We are dead,” said Diaz’s father. “We don’t have life. Our only daughter, the best daughter that I can have in my life.”
However, Orrego’s lawyer Andrew Parks wants to see how the legal process plays out before anyone else judge’s his client.
“I understand there are hurt feelings,” he said. “Nonetheless, he is presumed innocent, he’s plead not guilty, there is due process and I would certainly appreciate everybody allow that process to work its way out.”
Orrego faces four counts of DUI manslaughter among other charges.
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