A driver who fled the scene of a fatal hit-and-run accident that claimed the lives of a 39-year-old woman and 1-year-old boy from Kissimmee in 2022 has been sentenced to 60 years in prison.
Rolando Buron-Gutierrez, 30, was sentenced on Tuesday for leaving the scene of a fatal accident that took place over 18 months before.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Buron-Gutierrez was driving a 2004 Ford Expedition on June 5, 2022, westbound on U.S. Hwy 192, approaching a red light at the roadway’s intersection with Arthur J. Gallagher Boulevard.
Buron-Gutierrez failed to observe that traffic was stopped ahead and crashed his vehicle into the back of a 2022 Toyota Corolla. After the collision, Buron-Gutierrez fled the scene on foot.
The driver of the vehicle and a woman riding as a passenger were transported to Osceola Regional Medical Center. The other passenger, a 1-year-old boy, was transported to Arnold Palmer Hospital.
That evening, Osceola County Sheriff’s Office deputies and FHP troopers located Buron-Gutierrez and booked him into the Osceola County Jail.
Four days after the accident, on June 9, 2022, the woman was pronounced deceased at the hospital. The child was pronounced deceased two days after that on June 11, 2022.
Before he was sentenced, Buron-Gutierrez pled guilty to two counts of leaving the scene of a crash involving death and one count of leaving the scene of a crash involving serious bodily injury.
His sentence came on the same day that an Orlando wife and husband were arrested for fleeing the scene of a hit-and-run in 2021 that claimed the life of a newlywed on his honeymoon.