A Chattanooga man has been given a three-year prison sentence for killing a relative with a walker. Herineldo Cintron earlier got a 15-year term in a vehicular homicide case.
Cintron, 48, appeared before Criminal Court Judge Rebecca Stern on Wednesday. He had been charged with second-degree murder, but was allowed to plead to the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter.
Cintron beat his brother-in-law to death in April 2009 while out on bond on the vehicular homicide case.
He pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide in the driving case.
In the walker case, Chattanooga Police responded to 1653 Fernwood Circle on a domestic disorder. When the officers arrived they found 46-year-old Ray Diaz lying in the front yard unresponsive. He was transported to Erlanger Hospital by Hamilton County EMS where he was pronounced dead.
Police said the two men got into a argument which escalated into Cintron hitting the victim several times with his fist and then striking the victim with his walker several times. Cintron had been injured in the fatal wreck.
The victim and his wife tried to go next door to get away from the suspect and, after walking several feet, the victim fell to the ground, police said.
Cintron faced numerous charges in the June 19, 2005, wreck that claimed the life of Deborah Kenyon and injured her husband, Donald Kenyon of Trenton, Ga.
That case underwent a lengthy appeal after Cintron's attorney claimed he suffered brain injuries in the wreck. Judge Stern ruled in 2007 that he was competent to stand trial.
He had been free on $100,000 bond in that case when the slaying occurred.
Cintron was convicted of drunken driving on three occasions prior to the fatal wreck.
Prosecutors said he was at least "double drunk" when he allegedly drove recklessly down East Brainerd Road and struck the couple on a motorcycle.
Cintron has been in jail since the slaying of his brother-in-law.
The fatal wreck occurred in the 7500 block of East Brainerd Road around 3:30 p.m. on a Sunday.
Witnesses said a Mercury, a motorcycle and an older model white Jeep were involved.
Witnesses said the driver of the Jeep - Cintron - was traveling at a high rate of speed and making numerous lane changes. The last lane change was in the 7500 block of East Brainerd Road as he switched lanes from the slow (right) lane to the fast lane. When he did so, he slammed into the back of a Harley Davidson motorcycle that was stopped for a traffic light. When this happened, the driver and passenger were thrown from the motorcycle and it struck a maroon Mercury in front of it.
The Jeep careened off and struck the curb, causing it to flip three times, ejecting all three occupants. None were wearing a seatbelt.
The flipping Jeep also struck a Ford F-250 truck before coming to rest upside down off the roadway.
Ms. Kenyon was pronounced dead at the scene.