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Brayan Alejandro Gonzalez-Paez of Norristown has been charged with a slew of offenses for a high-speed crash on Valley Forge Park Road in Upper Merion Township that killed 20-year-old Anjelica Guadalupe Amaya Briceno and her 3-year-old daughter on Jan. 13, according to the affidavit of probable cause.
While it was raining, Gonzalez-Paez was driving a 2007 gray Toyota Yaris 70 to 80 mph in a 35-mph zone, along Valley Forge Park Road west of County Line Road in Upper Merion Township.
Around 1 a.m. he "failed to negotiate a left curve in the roadway, lost control of his vehicle and drove off the right side of the road onto a grass area," according to the release. That's when he went 74 feet across a grassy area and struck a tree, the affidavit details.
Police arrived to find him removing the unresponsive 3-year-old girl from the vehicle. First responders began CPR and she was rushed to CHOP in King of Prussia, where she died at 2 a.m.
Briceno was also found unresponsive. She was trapped in the front passenger seat and required extrication by emergency crews who then pronounced her dead at the scene.
It is unknown how the trio were connected. Briceno's obituary shows it was three days before her 21st birthday.
The airbags had deployed and Gonzalez-Paez and Briceno were wearing seatbelts but there was no car seat in the vehicle for the toddler.
A further investigation revealed that Gonzalez-Paez or Briceno had no paperwork for the vehicle. Gonzalez-Paez later told investigators "he had purchased the car from someone in Norristown and had never transferred the paperwork," the DA states. The release also notes that the vehicle had no insurance and he had no driver's license.
Gonzalez-Paez was arrested on Feb. 6, 2024. Magisterial District Judge Jodi Lukens Griffis arraigned him, set bail at $99,077, and remanded him to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m., Feb. 14, 2024, before Magisterial District Judge James P. Gallagher.
Assistant District Attorney Caroline Goldstein will prosecute this case.
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