Connecticut driver gets 11½ years for high-speed crash that killed 2 in Bridgeport
Bridgeport, CT – A Connecticut man will serve more than a decade in prison after a high-speed crash in Bridgeport killed a young woman and her 4-year-old nephew, ending what family members say was a hopeful day as they set out to secure a new home together. The sentencing marks the latest development in a case that has drawn attention to reckless driving and impaired operation on city streets.
Solomon Valentine, 42, was sentenced Tuesday to 11 1/2 years in prison after pleading no contest in February to two counts of first-degree manslaughter, along with second-degree assault and reckless driving. The charges stem from a March 6, 2023 crash that killed 24-year-old Chelsy Torres and Noah Rodriguez.
Prosecutors said Valentine was traveling at 74 miles per hour when he slammed into a vehicle stopped at a red light. The car carried Torres, her sister Ashley Aquino, and Aquino’s two young sons. Authorities said Valentine “had his foot to the floor as if it was his own personal racetrack, not slowing down or stopping for anybody.”
Crash details and victims
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Torres died at the scene, while Noah Rodriguez was airlifted to a hospital and died days later. Aquino and her younger son, Noel, who was 2 at the time, survived with injuries.
The family had been on their way to sign a lease for a new apartment, where the sisters planned to raise their children together, according to local reporting.
Aquino later described the aftermath and the impact on her surviving child. “He definitely is a miracle child. I was scared that I was going to lose both my kids, and he proved me wrong,” she told News 12 New Jersey.
She also spoke about the emotional toll following the sentencing. “Having to explain to a 5-year-old that the urn in our living room is his brother is very traumatic. Memories are all that I have. I lost the two most important people in my life,” Aquino told CTPost.
Investigation and arrest
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Valentine was injured in the crash and taken to a nearby hospital, where he left against medical advice. Tests conducted while he was there showed the presence of PCP and cannabis in his system.
He was arrested eight months after the crash. In court, Valentine read a statement apologizing to the victims’ family.
Family members have continued to remember Torres as a mother whose young daughter survives her. In a fundraiser organized after the crash, her sister Destiny Agramonte wrote, “That girl is part of her and she’s what we have left.”
The sentencing concludes the criminal case but leaves lasting consequences for the surviving family members, including ongoing recovery and the loss of two relatives in a single collision.
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