Two men accused of striking and killing pedestrians while driving under the influence pleaded guilty to DUI manslaughter last month.
Carlos Nunez Morales and Michael Rambudhan, both residents of Woodbridge, are set to be sentenced in August for their roles in the pair of 2024 crashes. According to statute, each man faces a maximum of 10 years in prison for the manslaughter charge alone.
Morales was driving west in a pickup truck on I-495 on March 10 when he crashed into a parked vehicle in the Rose Hill area around 3:38 a.m., Fairfax County police said.
Morales veered off of the highway before striking the other vehicle’s driver, Gregory Bruington Jr., who had pulled over in order to change a tire. Bruington was pronounced dead at the scene.
Responding officers identified that the 29-year-old Nunez Morales showed signs of intoxication, according to court documents.
“I detected a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage emitting his person as well as slurred speech and bloodshot glassy eyes,” a state police officer wrote in a criminal complaint.
The collision also left a female passenger inside Bruington’s vehicle “seriously injured,” a Fairfax County Police Department spokesperson said the following day.
Nunez Morales entered a guilty plea for the DUI manslaughter charge on May 19, avoiding a criminal trial. Online court records suggest the other charges in the case, including one for driving with a revoked license, will be dismissed.
However, the plea agreement wasn’t available when FFXnow went to the Fairfax County Courthouse yesterday (Wednesday) morning.
Separately, Rambudhan was arrested and charged after striking and killing a pedestrian near the Huntington Metro Station on May 24.
Rambudhan veered onto the sidewalk before striking the pedestrian, according to a criminal complaint. His vehicle struck a tree soon after, forcing it to overturn before throwing the struck pedestrian from the hood of the vehicle into a concrete wall.
Alexandria resident Lucius Gaskins, 54, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Rambudhan, who was found to have been speeding at the time of the collision, posted a blood alcohol content of .172 — much higher than the legal limit of .08.
Under the terms of a plea agreement, which was accepted by a judge at a May 22 hearing, Rambudhan is eligible for the maximum 10-year sentence. The 39-year-old’s period of active incarceration, however, is capped at four years.
Additionally, Rambudhan’s driving privileges will be revoked for at least five years, according to court documents.
Sentencing hearings in both cases have been set for Aug. 22.
