A Riverside County man who fatally struck a UC San Diego student on Interstate 5 near Old Town last year, then drove off, was sentenced Wednesday to three years in state prison.
Corundolus Toussaint, 40, of Perris, pleaded guilty last month to a felony count of hit-and-run causing death. With custody credits, Toussaint is expected to serve about six months of the three-year sentence.
Deputy District Attorney Karra Reedy said Andres Perkins, 21, of Menifee was killed “almost instantaneously” when he was struck in the fast lane of southbound I-5 around 2:45 a.m. on Feb. 24, 2018.
It is unknown why Perkins was on the freeway at that time, but authorities say he was running across the freeway when he was struck.
Police found a license plate near the scene that was tracked to a car owned by Toussaint’s girlfriend. The car was found about two hours after the crash, abandoned at a Shell gas station a few miles south of where Perkins’ body was discovered, Reedy said. The front license plate of the car was missing and the car was damaged, she said.
The prosecutor said surveillance footage from the gas station shows Toussaint and a woman getting out of the car, then getting a ride from an unknown person about half an hour later.
Toussaint surrendered to San Diego police two days later.
Defense attorney Manuel Avitia told San Diego Superior Court Judge Laura Halgren that Toussaint “recognizes the absolute gravity of the case” and is “deeply regretful for his actions.”
Halgren noted that Toussaint was not being held accountable for causing Perkins’ death, but rather for leaving the scene and not rendering aid to the victim.
Toussaint went to trial earlier this year on the same charge, but jurors could not overcome a 6-6 deadlock after a day of deliberating.
—City News Service