Fatal hit-run driver dies before sentencing
Man killed toddler in 2023 at Virginia Beach intersection
VIRGINIA BEACH — A 78-year-old man who pleaded guilty to killing a toddler last year in a hit-andrun died less than a week before he was due to be sentenced, according to his attorney.
Raul Santiago was 77 at the time of the accident on March 10, 2023, at the intersection of First Colonial Road and Southall Drive. A 2-year-old boy being pushed in a stroller by his father across First Colonial was killed. The boy’s 9-year-old brother was walking alongside them.
The crosswalk light was on and the family had crossed one lane of traffic when Santiago — who had just left a dialysis appointment — turned his pickup right onto First Colonial from Southall, according to a statement of facts entered in the case.
The father attempted to get his sons out of the way, but the toddler fell out of the stroller when the father yanked it back, the statement said. Santiago ran over the boy, drove onto a concrete center divider, and struck a traffic sign before continuing to drive south on First Colonial, the statement said. The boy died at a hospital.
Several witnesses gave police the pickup’s license plate number. When officers went to Santiago’s home to question him, he told them he knew he had struck something but thought it was a sidewalk, the statement said.
Santiago pleaded guilty to a charge of felony hit-andrun causing death or injury in January. He died Tuesday, just six days before he was due to be sentenced, according to attorney Stephen Pfeiffer. “Mr. Santiago was a wonderful man who hurt everyday for the accident,” the defense lawyer wrote in a message to The Virginian-Pilot.
“The victim’s family were amazing people who not only prayed for him and his family at the bond hearing, but offered him forgiveness,” Pfeiffer wrote. “It was one of the most memorable and emotional bond hearings I have ever been in part of my entire life. Both families were huddled up afterwards, hugging and praying for each other.”