Man sentenced for 2011 fatal Lynnway crash

LYNN – An East Boston man will spend 1? years in jail and then be deported to Peru after pleading guilty Monday to driving drunk and causing a 2011 crash on the Lynnway that injured his passenger and killed a popular local musician just leaving a gig.”Now you will finally be held responsible by the justice system; one day you will be held responsible by God,” Wanda Burns, a friend of the deceased, told the defendant in Lynn District Court Monday. “May you never for one day forget the damage you have done, the hearts you have broken and the life that you cut short on that tragic day.”Daniel Murillo-Robles, 23, of East Boston, pleaded guilty Monday to motor vehicle homicide while operating under the influence of liquor; and operating under the influence of liquor and causing serious injury; in an Oct. 15, 2011 crash that killed Neil Buckley, 58, of Marblehead.Murillo-Robles was driving to the beach with three friends when he crashed his white Acura into Buckley’s van just before midnight as Buckley was leaving a gig at the Lynn Yacht Club.Police arrived to find Buckley’s vehicle “fully engulfed in flames” and Buckley lying on the road. He was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital to be treated for severe burns. A female in Murillo-Robles’ car was taken to the hospital with severe injuries after she was ejected from the back seat and crashed into the dashboard. Murillo-Robles and the other passenger also suffered minor injuries. Police found an empty bottle of liquor, a full bottle of liquor and four plastic cups in Murillo-Robles’ car.The passengers said they were all drinking and headed to the beach after a party in Everett. Investigators found Murillo-Robles had a blood-alcohol content of .14, nearly double the legal limit, and had been driving approximately 80 miles per hour before the crash.Buckley died of his injuries Dec. 20, 2011.Murillo-Robles kept his head lowered as Essex Assistant District Attorney Mark Byron summarized the case in Lynn District Court Monday. Murillo-Robles then admitted to the charges.Francie Sudak, Buckley’s cousin, said Buckley was injured after doing what he most loved: performing and entertaining local music fans as a drummer in a rock band.”I was told later he had performed that evening like he never had before,” Sudak recalled.She acknowledged that Murillo-Robles and his family have suffered as well from the accident: Murillo-Robles entered the United States illegally and will be deported to Peru following his sentence.”But you will still be able to have your family to communicate with you,” Sudak said. “We can only communicate with our cousin, our friend, at St. Joseph’s Cemetery.Kendra Buckley described how she, as next of kin, had to sign for her brother’s medical care while doctors tried to keep him alive for weeks following the accident.”He had eight surgeries; he never made it to nine,” Kendra Buckley said as tears poured down her face. “He wouldn’t want me up here making a fool of myself, but it hurts, it will always hurt.”O’Malley said he “was not asking anybody to feel bad” for his client. But Murillo-Robles was remorseful and would be punished.”He was young and reckless and drinking and now Mr. Buckley is gone and (Murillo-Robles) has to live with that the rest of his life,” O’Malley said. “He is punished with incarceration for now, and then his banishment from the greatest country in the history of the world…and he has to live with this every day.”Byron and O’Malley agreed that Murillo-Robles would be sentenced to a total of 1? years in a house of correction and will lose his driver’s license for 17 years.The defendant will also be deported the day he is released from custody.Lynn District Court Judge Albert Conlon accepted the sentence.”I wish there was something I could add, but there are not adequate words in this situation,” Conlon said. “There is no one in this courtroom who is a winner.”