Mexican actor Pablo Lyle was found guilty of manslaughter in a 2019 deadly road rage case. NBC 6’s Ryan Nelson reports
Actor Pablo Lyle was found guilty Tuesday of manslaughter in a deadly road rage case back in 2019.
Lyle, 35, delivered the fatal punch that killed 63-year-old Juan Ricardo Hernandez during a road rage incident in Miami.
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He faces up to 15 years in prison at a later sentencing hearing.
"Today’s jury verdict finding Pablo Lyle guilty of the manslaughter death of 63-year-old Juan Ricardo Hernández shows the outrageous destructiveness of 'road rage' incidents," Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said in a statement. "Two lives were destroyed by simple roadway anger, a situation we see far too often on our streets and on streets across the country. I am very proud of the efforts and hard work by Assistant State Attorneys Shawn Abuhoff and Gabriela Alfaro that has brought a measure of justice to Mr. Hernandez’ surviving family."
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The jury took over four hours to deliberate. No emotion was visible on Lyle's face as the judge read the verdict. Across the room, Hernandez's wife wept openly.
"The Hernandez family is grateful that the first phase in this three-and-a-half-year-long process has come to a close with the guilty verdict rendered today. It has been and will be a very difficult world for them without Juan Ricardo. He was a joyous, caring man who loved his family and enjoyed life," the victim's lawyer, Zena X. Duncan, wrote in a statement. "No measure of justice will right the injustice that occurred on that street that day back on March 31, 2019, when Pablo Lyle punched Juan Ricardo and left him dying where he laid. As such, the family is ready for the next phase of this process and looks forward to the sentencing."
Lyle's attorney was silent as she walked out of the courthouse after the verdict.
A security camera video showed Lyle rushing up to Hernandez and punching him in the face. Hernandez died after hitting his head on the pavement.
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In court Monday, Lyle announced he would not be taking the stand in his own defense before attorneys delivered their closing arguments.
Defense attorneys argued that Hernandez started the incident when he got out of his car and pounded on the window of the car Lyle was riding in at an intersection.
They also argued that Lyle was defending his family against what he thought was a threat posed by Hernandez.
But prosecutors said Hernandez had walked away and was heading back to his car before the punch. They also said that three witnesses testified that Hernandez had his hands up in a defensive posture and that there was no reason for Lyle to hit him at that point.
“I know that he did not do it intentionally, but he must face the consequences," the victim's stepson told reporters outside of the courtroom. "There are people who have said that he should not have gotten out of the car. No one has the right to kill anyone and take a life."
