LI Man Pleads Guilty To Vehicular Homicide After DWI Death: DA

BAY SHORE, NY—A Bay Shore man pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney.

Carlos Orellana Mata, 36, of Bay Shore, pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide before County Court Judge Stephen L. Braslow on Wednesday for driving while intoxicated and crashing into the back of a tractor-trailer, killing his passenger, Lenel Umana Guitierrez Lopez, 22, of East Northport last year, Tierney said.

Orellana Mata was charged with aggravated vehicular homicide, a Class B felony, second-degree manslaughter, a Class C felony and aggravated driving while intoxicated, an unclassified misdemeanor, the DA said.

He is due back in court for sentencing on August 7 and faces three to nine years in prison, the DA said.

According to the investigation, on March 18, 2023, at around 12:15 a.m., Orellana Mata was driving a 2015 Infiniti QX60 SUV eastbound on Jericho Turnpike in Elwood when he crashed into the rear of a tractor-trailer, killing Guitierrez Lopez upon impact, the DA said.

Upon arrival, police found Orellana Mata in the vehicle's driver's seat with slurred speech and bloodshot, glassy eyes. He was removed and transported to Good Samaritan Hospital, where he consented to toxicology testing that revealed a blood alcohol content of .15%, the DA said.

Police were authorized to seize blood taken by hospital staff when Orellana Mata was admitted to the hospital, which revealed a .20% blood alcohol concentration, the DA said. Meanwhile, a search warrant executed on his car revealed that he was moving at over 80 miles per hour before the collision.

“This defendant was operating a vehicle while being twice the legal limit of drinking and in the process, claimed the life of yet another young Suffolk County victim,” Tierney said. “We see this far too often where people are losing their lives through the carelessness of others on the roadways and aggrieved families are left without a loved one because of someone else’s lapse in judgment. This has to stop.”

Orellana Mata being represented by Christopher Gioe. Gioe was not immediately available for comment.