CENTENNIAL — The girlfriend of a man charged in an accident that killed three people in 2008 testified today that the man’s cousin was also in the vehicle when it crashed.
Authorities say Francis Hernandez was driving a Suburban by himself on the evening of Sept. 4, 2008, when he hit a small pickup, sending it into an Aurora ice cream parlor.
The crash killed the driver of the pickup, Patricia Guntharp 49, and her passenger, Debra Serecky, 51. Three-year-old Marten Kudlis, who was inside the Baskin-Robbins on Havana Street, also died.
During testimony in Arapahoe County District Court today, Brenda Aleman, Hernandez’s girlfriend, said that his cousin, Christian Hernandez, was also in the vehicle at the time of the crash.
This conflicts with her previous testimony on Wednesday, as well as with what she originally told police after the accident that Hernandez was by himself in the Suburban.
Christian Hernandez was shot and killed in June at the apartment comlex he shared with his cousin and girlfriend in the 9600 block of East Girard Avenue in Denver so he cannot be called to testify.
“Francis had told me that when they crashed they were both together,” Aleman said on the stand.
When asked by defense attorney Chris Baumann if she knew the penalties for lying under oath, Aleman replied: “I’m not lying. I’m telling the truth about the whole thing.”
Her testimony also contradicts statements made by witness Brandon Hickerson, who drove by the accident site just after it happened.
Hickerson said the Suburban was on its side and that a man he later identified as Francis Hernandez jumped out of the passenger side window and onto the ground. After getting his bearings, Hickerson said, Hernandez ran past his car and behind a gas station.
“I looked right at him and he even looked at me,” Hickerson testified. “He was close enough he could have touched my car.”
Later that night, police took Hickerson to the Hernandez home and Hickerson identified him as the man who ran from the Suburban after the crash.
Several police officers are expected to testify this afternoon, the second day of the trial that is expected to take two weeks.
Hernandez, who is in the United States illegally, faces 19 charges, including vehicular homicide, and was arrested or cited 16 times for numerous traffic offenses but was never deported.
Carlos Illescas: 303-954-1175 or cillescas@denverpost.com.
