(SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y.) – Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced the guilty plea of Santiago Monzon-Archila who was charged with Second Degree Manslaughter, after he crashed his vehicle into a house last December with nearly twice the legal limit of alcohol in his system killing his passenger.
“This tragedy could have been avoided if the defendant didn’t drive drunk, period,” said Tierney. “Instead, he chose to endanger Suffolk County residents through his reckless conduct and in the process caused the death of his passenger.”
Monzon-Archila, aged 40, also pleaded guilty to Vehicular Manslaughter in the Second Degree and Driving While Intoxicated.
According to court documents and the defendant’s statements, on December 17, 2021, at approximately 5:00 a.m., the defendant lost control of his vehicle on Flanders Road and crashed through an iron fence, into a parked truck and then through a wood fence which caused the car to go airborne and finally into a house on Flanders Road. Police estimate that the defendant’s car crashed into the house at approximately 10 feet in the air. The defendant’s car landed upside down with the defendant trapped inside. Police watched as the defendant cut himself out of the driver’s seatbelt.
During the crash, the defendant’s passenger, Edis Noe Hernandez Nunez, was ejected and later pronounced dead at Peconic Bay Medical Center. Monzon-Archila admitted to police that he and Edis had been drinking beer since 7 p.m. the night before. Police recovered beer cans at the crash scene. The District Attorney’s Office applied for a search warrant of the defendant’s hospital blood which was taken one hour after the crash. The results of the analysis revealed a Blood Alcohol Content of .13%.
This case was heard before the Honorable Supreme Court Justice Richard I. Horowitz. Based on the charges, Monzon-Archila faces 5 to 15 years in prison. He is due back in court for sentencing on July 22 and he is being represented by Jeremy Mis of the Legal Aid Society.
This case is being prosecuted by Carl Borelli, Bureau Chief of the Vehicular Crime Bureau and Assistant District Attorney James P. Scahill of the Vehicular Crime Bureau.