A judge in Arapahoe County’s 18th Judicial District court sentenced an Aurora driver to five years in prison, followed by five years of mandatory parole, for the fatal killing of a 65-year-old man and his dog.
On the night of April 3, Michael Graham-Hyde, 73, killed Rafael Alberto Buitrago and his dog, Nova, while they were on a walk near East Wesley Drive and East Caspian Circle.
Graham-Hyde told police he had been awake for 38 hours after returning from an overseas trip when he fell asleep at the wheel and hit Buitrago and Nova, according to an arrest affidavit.
He got out of his SUV, saw Buitrago and “panicked,” choosing to drive away when he saw another car coming because he thought the other driver would stop and help, police wrote in the affidavit.
Graham-Hyde stood before Arapahoe County District Court Judge LaQunya Baker at Monday afternoon’s sentencing hearing and expressed deep remorse for crashing into Buitrago and fleeing the scene, a decision he said fills him with shame that he will carry for the rest of his life.
“His family must be feeling pain and suffering, and have questions that may never be answered, and I regret what I have done to their family,” he said.
Buitrago was pronounced dead at the hospital, and Nova was killed instantly, police said.
Luz Buitrago, Rafael’s wife, said that Graham-Hyde ended 33 years of marriage and that what happened to her husband not only destroyed her life, but also the lives of many others.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
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