Five years ago the Vallenato world was in mourning following learning of the death of Martin Elias Diaz Acosta. The accordions went from playing puyas and merengues in their last presentation in Coveñas (Sucre), to interpreting sones for their death in a traffic accident.
It was a Good Friday, and The incident occurred at 7:40 am, but three hours later the first images of the Toyota truck were revealed reference TXL that overturned on the roads of Córdoba. He came from an intense presentation in that municipality, and following interpreting several songs from his repertoire and others from his father, Diomedes, ‘Tin tín’ left in the early morning hours, but not before pleasing his followers with photos and autographs.
During the tour, the artist was without a seat belt and changing his clothes, and according to the first investigations, with the vehicle at more than 150 kilometers per hour and in the passenger seat: big mistake, because the road they were traveling on had a speed limit of 50 km/h… following the impact he was ejected through the panoramic glass, crashing directly into the asphalt. The driver only suffered minor injuries.
Despite the shock, he was still alive. Quickly, they transferred him to the Santa María Clinic in Sincelejo, but at 12:45 noon, passed away. And while tributes were being paid and his relatives, friends and followers lamented what had happened, the Prosecutor’s Office wasted no time and began investigations into the case, which later revealed that there were 34 kilometers of road connecting Old Tolú with the accident area. imperfection, for which the accident theory gained more force.
The accusation and the testimony of the accordion player of Martín Elías
The vehicle “It was going slowly, at 90 kilometers per hour. said Rolando Ochoa, who participated as a witness for the Prosecutor’s Office and who was traveling in another car. During the journey, the van where the singer was going passed the second and left her on the road. Six minutes later, the accident happened.
On April 10, 2019, the criminal process once morest Armando Quintero, a driver who was driving Díaz Acosta, formally began, but it was not until November 22 of that year that charges were brought once morest him.
The Prosecutor’s Office demonstrated until the last moment that it was a manslaughter, while Quintero’s defense maintained the theory that the death of the vallenato singer was due to medical negligence. Thus, they went to preparatory hearings between March and June of the following year, which were suspended due to differences between the prosecutor in the case and Dayana Jaimes, Díaz’s widow. The pandemic was also an excuse for the postponement of the diligence.
“The forcefulness of the technical evidence related to the very high speed at which the vehicle in which Martín Elías lost his life was traveling, is sufficient proof that it was that, and no other, the reason for his death,” said Oscar Sierra , the victim’s lawyer, on September 30, 2020, when the oral trial hearing was held.
The conviction of the driver of Martín Elías
On February 25, 2022, the Fourth Criminal Judge of the Sincelejo Circuit sentenced Armando Quintero Ponce to 32 months in house arrest for the death of Martín Elías Díaz Acosta. The judge stated that the accident was caused by excessive speed. “The truck was going at 157 km/h, when on that road what corresponds is 50 km/h,” Sierra said in dialogue with El Tiempo. However, the ruling was not well received by Nini Bibiana Sanjuan, the defendant’s partner.
“I keep asking myself a question since this event and that is if my husband had lost his life in this fatal accident, what would have happened?” The woman published on her social networks following learning of the conviction once morest Quintero, who was granted the benefit of the execution of his sentence.
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