(Trends Wide) — A young woman walking on a highway in upstate New York was struck and killed by a suspected drunk driver, a co-worker with whom she had been drinking earlier in the evening and with whom she refused to ride, they said. The authorities.
Madison Faltisco, 22, was bar hopping with her coworker in the town of Clay last Thursday night and then refused to get into her coworker’s car around 10:30 p.m. local, and chose to walk home, according to Onondaga County Sheriff’s spokesman Tomas Newton.
Faltisco began walking down Oswego Street and passed an intersection before Joshua Schiano, 23, hit her with his car and continued driving down the street, according to Newton and a criminal complaint filed with the Onondaga District Attorney’s Office. .
Within two minutes of hitting the young woman with his car, Schiano was in another accident less than a mile away down the road, hitting a store sign as well as some items outside an Army thrift store. of Salvation, according to the complaint.
Schiano’s car caught fire and someone pulled him out of the car before police arrived, Newton said. The complaint says Schiano was intoxicated, but does not give details about the results of his blood alcohol test.
Schiano did not tell anyone that he had hit someone before he crashed into the sign, Newton said.
“Through our investigation we were able to find out that he knew he had hit something or someone before the accident happened,” he said.
Detectives interviewed the girl’s friends and determined that she had previously refused to let Schiano give her a ride, said Newton, who described Faltisco and Schiano as co-workers.
Faltisco’s body was discovered by a passerby around 5 a.m. the next day, more than six hours after she was struck, Newton said, and she was pronounced dead at the scene.
“It’s a very busy four-lane highway during the day,” Newton said. “Probably numerous cars went through his body before someone called.”
The Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office charged Schiano with three felonies: manslaughter, punishable by up to 15 years in prison; vehicular manslaughter, punishable up to 7 years; and leaving the scene of a fatal accident, which she is punishable by up to 7 years. They said more charges are possible.
Trends Wide has reached out to a lawyer for Schiano for comment.
Faltisco’s family has started a GoFundMe page to raise money for his burial costs.
“I was only 22 years old. The bright light from her went out in seconds,” the fundraiser organizer says on the page. “Her family of hers is living a nightmare preparing to bury their beautiful daughter and sister.”
Schiano was arraigned late Friday and pleaded not guilty before a judge, according to the prosecutor’s office. A hearing date will be set after the case is presented to the grand jury. He is being held at the Onondaga County Justice Center with bond set at $500,000 bond or $250,000 cash, according to Newton.