Edwin Rodriguez sentenced to 10 years for fatal crash

TAMPA, Fla. - Geraldo Jaimes never got to meet his newborn baby. He was killed weeks before her birth.

Prosecutors say the man responsible is Edwin Rodriguez, and recently a jury agreed. He was convicted of leaving the scene of a crash involving a death.

At Rodriguez's sentencing Tuesday morning, Geraldo‘s sister, Rosanna Lopez explained what Jaimes' death has done to her family.

"At one point, I had my brother dying in a bed, my mother in a hospital in ICU, how do I go to her and tell her, 'Your son is dying?'" Lopez asked. "He does not seem to get that. I haven't seen any remorse on his face the whole time I've come."

Four years ago, Rodriguez was behind the wheel and crashed into a construction site, killing Geraldo. They say Rodriguez took off and was involved in a second hit-and-run crash. 

At the hearing, Rodriguez’s mother explained her son was suffering from mental health issues years before the crash. He had severe depression and was taken into custody for mental health evaluation under the Baker Act twice.

 "As he started getting older, he started shutting himself in his room and would not come out," his mother said.

Rodriguez‘s sister, Dulce Berges added that her brother never got into trouble.

"It’s just hard to see him here, you know? He's never been a bad kid. It's just sad for all of us," said Berges.

But Rodriguez himself never said a word. The final word belonged to Hillsborough County Judge Samantha Ward, who sentenced Rodriguez to 10 years in prison followed by five years of probation.