Johnston County man pleads guilty to murder
Published: Tue, May. 22, 2007 12:47PM
Modified Tue, May. 22, 2007 12:52PM
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closeA Johnston County man will spend 10 to 12 years in prison for an accident last year that killed the fetus of a woman who was nine months pregnant and left a 5-year-old boy with permanent brain injuries.
Cayetano Frias Flores II, 21, of Selma pled guilty to second-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon today.
Prosecutors say he was drunk when the truck he was driving hit a Nissan Altima on Buffalo Road in February 2006. In the car were five family members returning home from a baby shower for Maria de Jesus Hernandez.
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Flores fled the scene of the accident. He had been convicted of drunken driving in 2005.
About a dozen friends and family members of victims came to see Frias plead guilty. They said the verdict did little to ease their pain.
“I don’t think anything could punish him as much as we have been punished,” said Laura Morris, the mother of 5-year-old Diego Hernandez. Morris’ son has undergone 14 brain surgeries and will likely never walk or talk normally.
Members of Flores' family were also present but declined to comment on the plea.
"He is very sorry that this happened," Frias' lawyer, Craig Jones, said on his behalf.
Staff writer Marti Maguire can be reached at 829-4841 or marti.maguire@newsobserver.com.
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