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Brooklyn Driver Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter of Deliveryman

The driver, Valdez Heron, plead guilty to manslaughter in June after running a red light and fatally striking a man in 2020.

A Flatbush man has been sentenced to three to six years in prison. This follows his guilty plea to manslaughter for fatally striking a deliveryman in Borough Park in 2020.

“This defendant’s recklessness behind the wheel tragically took the life of a hardworking husband and father,” said Brooklyn district attorney, Eric Gonzalez. “He has now been held accountable for his actions.”

Gonzalez identified the defendant as Valdez Heron, 31, of Flatbush, Brooklyn. He was sentenced today in Brooklyn Supreme Court to 3 to 6 years in prison. The defendant pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter on June 6, 2022.

According to Gonzalez, on October 18, 2020, at approximately 11:50 a.m. the defendant was driving a Dodge Charger eastbound on 46th Street towards 9th Avenue. He then ran a steady red light, striking deliveryman, Xiang Wu, 43, as he rode a Yamaha SMAX scooter through the intersection.

Heron was arrested at the scene. The victim was taken in critical condition to Maimonides Medical Center where he underwent multiple surgeries.

In November of 2020, the victim was transferred to the Bedford Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation. On Dec. 21, 2020, the victim was found unresponsive and transferred to Woodhull Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

The Office of the New York Medical Examiner determined the cause of death to be complications of multiple blunt force injuries.

The case was prosecuted by senior assistant district attorney, Roman Galper, of the District Attorney’s Violent Criminal Enterprises Bureau. As well as, assistant district attorney, Jacob Uriel, deputy unit chief of the District Attorney’s Street Safety Bureau.




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