Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced that Luis Gonzalo Barrionuevo Fuertes, 18, of Moriches, pleaded guilty to Aggravated Vehicular Homicide and related charges for driving while intoxicated and causing a crash that killed a teenage passenger and seriously injured another.
According to court documents and the defendant’s admissions during his plea allocution, on June 15, 2025, Barrionuevo Fuertes drove seven teenagers, ranging in age from 15 to 19, to a beach in East Hampton in a 2009 Toyota Camry.
After consuming alcohol, the group left the beach with Barrionuevo Fuertes behind the wheel. Six passengers, including a 15-year-old, were seated in the back seat of the vehicle without seatbelts.
At approximately 7:39 p.m., while traveling northbound on Old Stone Highway, Barrionuevo Fuertes approached a curve at a high rate of speed, crossed into the opposite lane, and nearly struck an oncoming vehicle before veering off the roadway and crashing into a tree.
The impact caused the vehicle to roll onto its passenger side. Rear-seat passenger Scarleth Samaniego-Urgiles, 19, of East Hampton, was killed in the crash. The remaining passengers were transported to local hospitals for treatment. One rear-seat passenger sustained a spinal fracture and severe hand lacerations that resulted in significant and permanent disfigurement.
Responding officers observed signs of intoxication and placed Barrionuevo Fuertes under arrest. A chemical test later revealed a blood alcohol concentration of .08%. Data recovered from the vehicle’s event data recorder showed that seconds before the crash, he was traveling 74 miles per hour in a 30-mph zone.
Barrionuevo Fuertes pleaded guilty to multiple felony charges and faces four to 12 years in prison at sentencing scheduled for March 18, 2026.