Deported Man Convicted In Fatal North Haven Crash Accused Of Sneaking Back Into U.S.: Feds

NORTH HAVEN, CT — An Ecuador citizen who was convicted of manslaughter for a 2017 fatal North Haven crash and then deported is now accused of sneaking back into the country.

Darwin Francisco Quituizaca-Duchitanga, 39, has been charged by federal criminal complaint with illegally reentering the United States after being deported, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office, which announced the arrest on Thursday.

He has also used the aliases of Darwin Duchitanga-Quituizaca and Juan Mendez-Gutierrez, federal prosecutors said.

Connecticut State Police arrested Quituizaca-Duchitanga in March 2018 on charges related to the fatal crash, which happened on I-91 in North Haven in March 2017, according to the government. Benjamin Franklin Morant of New Haven was killed in the accident.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials encountered Quituizaca-Duchitanga in August 2018 in Meriden and arrested him on an administrative warrant while he was awaiting trial for the state case. An immigration judge in 2018 ordered him to be deported to Ecuador, but he was transferred to state custody to face the motor vehicle charges, federal prosecutors said.

Quituizaca-Duchitanga was convicted of second-degree manslaughter in state Superior Court in January 2019 for the North Haven accident, and he was sentenced to 30 months in prison, officials said. He was deported to Ecuador in September 2023. At the time, he was warned he could not reenter the United States, court documents show.

The U.S. Attorney’s office said Quituizaca-Duchitanga subsequently came back into the United States illegally.

ICE agents arrested him on June 28, 2025 in Meriden, and he has been detained since his arrest.

Quituizaca-Duchitanga appeared in U.S. District Court in Hartford on Thursday. If convicted of unlawful reentry into the United States, he could face up to 10 years in federal prison.

Read more:
Meriden Man Charged In Fatal Wrong-Way Crash On I-91
Victim Identified in Fiery 3-Vehicle Fatal Accident in North Haven: UPDATE