One year after motorist Richard Marlin Maritt, faced DUI-related charges for allegedly killing a pedestrian, and injuring another, in Hawthorne, California, top accident lawyers in the state have proven him guilty. The suspect was on Thursday, April 9, sentenced to four years in a state prison.

The convict was first charged last year, following a fatal traffic incident that took place on July 14, and claimed the life of Roxanne Stempien, 40.

The court papers indicate that Maritt struck the fatal victim at about 1:45 am, while she was crossing the street using the crosswalk. The records also showed that another pedestrian present at the time suffered injuries in the collision.

The suspect fled the scene after the crash. Following police investigations, evidence collected at the scene linked the hit-and-run incident to the culprit.

When officers arrived at the suspect’s home, they discovered the offending vehicle parked around the corner, with a major front-end-damage as expected. The car was registered to Richard Merrit.

Deputies determined that the alleged hit-and-run motorist was under the influence at the time of the crash. He was then arrested on suspicions of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, hit-and-run causing death or injury to another, DUI-alcohol, and driving with a blood-alcohol content of 0.08. He has since remained in police custody.

The felon appeared in court last month, where he pleaded no contest to one count of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated without gross negligence, in the presence of top accident lawyers.

Disclaimer: The Accident News article you just read includes information obtained from numerous sources. These sources include, but are not limited to, websites and press releases from law enforcement, the county coroner, fire departments, and other news outlets. While we strive to provide readers with the most accurate information, sometimes the information received is not entirely accurate. For complete details, please refer to an official police report.

The articles published contain sensitive subject matter that may be hard to read by some. We understand that losing a loved one is hard and devastating. Accident News’s decision to share the stories is to help others who may be facing the same situations by providing appropriate resources to the general public.

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