Man gets nearly 11 years for 2020 fatal hit-and-run
A 34-year-old Fairfield man was sentenced Monday to 10 years, eight months in state prison for gross vehicular manslaughter and felony hit-and-run for the February 2020 death of his toddler nephew.
Cirilo Martinez Tellez, a previously convicted felon who pleaded to the charges in March, appeared in Department 5 in the Justice Building in Vallejo, where he heard Judge Stephanie Grogan Jones levy the sentence.
During a March 21 hearing, Tellez waived his rights and agreed to the plea deal on the day when he was scheduled to learn of his trial date on a murder charge, court records indicate.
Deputy District Attorney Kevin Tali led the prosecution. Chief Deputy Public Defender Tamani Taylor represented Tellez.
After a preliminary hearing in February last year, Jones, court records show, determined there was enough evidence to hold him for trial.
According to Fairfield police and court records, at about 2 p.m. Feb. 23, 2020, officers and firefighters responded to reports of a collision in the 1400 block of West Texas Street. Upon arrival, officers found a 2-year-old boy who had been struck by a vehicle. He was taken to a local hospital, where he died from his injuries. The boy was not identified, but police said that Tellez was his uncle.
According to police, Tellez, who required a Spanish-language interpreter during court proceedings, reportedly fled the collision moments afterward but left his vehicle at the scene. Police impounded the vehicle to search for evidence to help with the investigation. Based on witness statements and evidence collected at the scene, police determined that alcohol impairment played a role in the collision.
Police also said they recovered video surveillance footage that captured the direction in which Tellez fled. As the investigation proceeded, with enough evidence to indicate that a crime occurred, police used social media and community alerts to help locate Tellez.
At 6 p.m., police said Tellez returned to the scene and was taken into custody. He was booked into Solano County Jail on an arrest warrant. Bail was set at $235,000.
The Solano County District Attorney filed its complaint Feb. 25, 2020, the day Tellez first appeared in court.
Police initially presented the case to the District Attorney's Office for review to consider additional charges of murder, violating his probation and felony DUI resulting in death. Afterward, the DA's Office upgraded a vehicular manslaughter charge to murder.
Had he been found guilty at trial, Tellez would face a maximum prison term of 25 years to life, plus more time for any other charges and for being a previously convicted felon.