At the moment of impact, a 38-year-old Springfield man allegedly was driving 107 mph and never hit his brakes when he rear-ended an Uber driver's RAV4, which was stopped at a red light at National and Sunshine.
The Uber passenger, Domingues Buenrostro, 26, of Springfield, was in the back seat. He was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead.
Andrew Irizarry-Sierra on Monday was charged with first-degree involuntary manslaughter, a Class C felony punishable by 3-10 years in prison.
Irizarry-Sierra also has been charged with assault in the second degree, a Class D felony punishable by up to seven years in prison.
Dawn Deering, 53, said she, her husband and her son, Buenrostro, moved to Springfield from San Diego, California, two years ago. They lived together.
“Domingues fell in love with Missouri,” she said.
Her son worked at Plaza Tire Service
Buenrostro was single and worked as a tire technician at Plaza Tire Service, 2811 S. Campbell Ave.
“He was full of life,” she said of her son. “He loved music; he played guitar; and just tried to live life to the fullest.”
Deering said the Uber driver had picked up her son at their home that night. She did not know where he was headed.
“And then the police came,” she said.
The accident occurred at 10:55 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 14.
Suspect narrowly avoided 2 other crashes
According to court documents, Irizarry-Sierra was driving a Ford Taurus east on Sunshine Street at speeds of up to 110 mph and narrowly avoided two other crashes before striking the Uber driver's vehicle.
A police officer at Sunshine and Jefferson reportedly saw Irizarry-Sierra's car pass by at a high rate of speed and followed the Taurus. The officer drove up to the crash site.
Glen Westerhouse, 28, the Uber driver, was taken to the hospital. He could not recall what happened. He could remember picking up the passenger and stopping at the red light, but the next thing he knew he woke up in the hospital.
According to a probable cause statement compiled by a police officer, Irizarry-Sierra consented to have his blood drawn so law enforcement could test it to see if he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
The results are not mentioned in court documents.
