Port Jervis man pleads guilty in DWI-related child fatality case

On Friday, Oct. 4 Yeraldo Roa, 35, of Port Jervis pled guilty in Orange County Court to vehicular manslaughter in the first degree, Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler announced. As part of his guilty plea, Roa admitted that he was intoxicated when he caused the death of the 11-year-old girl who was in the car that he was driving at the time of the fatal crash.

According to Hoovler’s announcement, Roa admitted that on September 23, 2023, at about 8:30 p.m., he drove across the double-yellow lines on Route 6 in the town of Woodbury and struck three oncoming vehicles before crashing head-on into a fourth vehicle. Hoovler said Roa had a blood alcohol level of 0.20% at the time, more than twice the legal limit.

As a result of the crash, Roa and his 11-year-old passenger were transported to Garnet Health Medical Center, where the girl was pronounced dead. Occupants of the other vehicles were treated for injuries at St. Luke’s Hospital. Roa is scheduled to be sentenced on December 20, 2024.

Hoovler thanked the New York State Police for their investigation and the arrest of Roa, as well as the Collison Reconstruction Unit of the New York State Police, Woodbury EMS, and Hatzolah Ambulance Corp.

“Deaths such as this are as preventable as they are tragic,” said Hoovler. “My deepest sympathy and condolences go out to the family and loved ones of this exceptional girl, who lost her life because someone made a conscious decision to drink and drive. This defendant no doubt did not intend to kill his young passenger, but he made a conscious decision to drive knowing that he was severely intoxicated and knowing that it would put the lives of people he knew, and the lives of people didn’t know, at risk. He chose to do so anyway.”