JACKSONVILLE,Fla. – A 45-year-old man accused of driving drunk and killing two motorcyclists in a crash last October on Beach Boulevard in Jacksonville is set to be sentenced on Friday.
Gabe DiSpirito and Joe Royce, both 25, were traveling westbound on Beach Boulevard near Washburn Road on their motorcycles when 45-year-old Diego Hernandez Martinez turned his Nissan Frontier into their path while trying to enter a parking lot.
The friends a families of the victims spoke in court on Friday and shared memories and pain, while those who know Hernandez Martinez spoke in support.
(Click the video player above to watch live. The court is in a brief recess before the sentence will be read.)
The hearing started at 1:30 p.m. and responding officers from JSO and FHP testified.
The Florida Highway Patrol said both DiSpirito and Royce were wearing helmets when they crashed into the side of the pickup truck, but they died from their injuries.
Hernandez Martinez’s 29-year-old passenger was also critically injured in the crash, and Hernandez Martinez suffered serious injuries.
According to troopers, Hernandez Martinez was intoxicated behind the wheel. A trooper told the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office that Hernandez Martinez had bloodshot, watery eyes and his face was flushed, and the trooper could smell alcohol in the hospital room where Hernandez Martinez was taken after the crash.
Later toxicology reports showed Hernandez Martinez had a blood alcohol level of 0.220.
According to his arrest report, Hernandez Martinez had two active suspensions on his license at the time of the deadly crash because of a previous DUI case, which had been reduced to reckless driving.
Hernandez Martinez pleaded guilty on July 9 to two counts of DUI manslaughter and two counts of driving without a license, causing death.
According to his plea agreement, he could serve anywhere from 15 to 25 years in state prison.
Court documents show that Hernandez Martinez, who is a Mexican citizen, came to the U.S. when he was 17 years old but is not living in the country legally. He has a wife and nine children and works as a carpenter.
Hernandez Martinez currently has an ICE hold.
A roadside memorial for DiSpirito and Royce now stands at the Beach Boulevard intersection where the crash occurred.
Both families spoke about the loss of their loved ones and the emotional toll the crash has taken.
Friends and family of Royce were the first to speak.
“[On the day Joe was killed] I was at work a few hours before the crash, I had gotten a phone call from Joseph making plans to go to airsoft the next day. I remember rushing through that call, giving quick responses and trying to hurry back to my shift,” friend Alex Taylor said. “That phone call was the last time I heard his voice.”
Friends and family of DiSpirito also spoke, and one aimed his comments directly at Hernandez Martinez, who sat wearing a green jumpsuit with his head hung low.
“Family and friends in this bike community are completely hurt and rocked by this. We feel it every day,” Gabe DiSpirito’s friend Dominique Stephanos said. “Did you feel anything, seeing, knowing his body lay dead in the street? I did, so does everyone else.”
Nicolas Romero, who has known Hernandez Martinez for more than 7 years, said he is a hard worker as well as a lovable and quiet person. Romero said Hernandez Martinez came to America to find opportunity and has his own company.
Hernandez Martinez spoke in Spanish and offered an apology to the victims through a translator.
“I only want to tell you in front of everybody here that I am truly sorry. I never thought it was going to happen,” he said. “I don’t have anything left to say, just that I am so sorry because of the families that are present. I’m very sorry.”
The state asked for 12.5 years in state prison for each death, for a total of 25 years. The prosecutor added that due to his ICE hold, he is expected to be deported at the end of his sentence.
Hernandez Martinez’s attorney asked for a 15-year sentence.