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Juan Fernandez, 38, of Union City, NJ, surrendered to police on Wednesday, Aug. 17, and was charged with two counts of negligent homicide, among other charges in connection with the crash on Friday, Aug. 13, 2021, in Middlesex County, on Route 15 in Woodbridge.
Fernandez was behind the wheel of a Honda Accord that had seven people, including five people in the backseat, when he drove straight into a tree traveling at more than 70 miles per hour without any signs of braking or skid marks on the roadway, CT State Police said.
A passing car said that just before the crash, they witnessed the front-seat passenger screaming as the car zoomed past them and then hit the tree, according to the arrest report.
Fernandez's wife, Siryania Albino-De Fernandez, age 31, who was trapped in the vehicle, was taken to Yale New Haven Hospital where she was pronounced dead, state police said.
Another passenger, identified as Zionette M. Santos-Degil, age 28, died several weeks later, on Sunday, Sept. 11, 2021, also at Yale New Haven Hospital, the report says.
Siryania worked at Kalahari Resort in Pennsylvania, where coworkers mourned her loss in the days after the crash.
"Oh this is hitting hard we all worked together at Kalahari..going out after work for a drink," a coworker wrote on social media.
"We lost one of our [sic] crew members last week you went to her funeral and this week it's you...I cannot believe this..we all love you very much and hope and pray your husband and kids pull thru..fly high and rest in paradise."
Others in the vehicle, including Fernandez, suffered serious injuries, state police said. Fernandez was released on a $25,000 bond and given a court date of Friday, Sept. 23 in New Haven.
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