The family of a man killed in a hit-and-run crash in Little Havana says justice has finally been served — though not in the way they originally expected.
Two years ago, surveillance video captured the moment Tomas Brito, the brother of American Senior High School principal Humberto Brito, was struck and killed while crossing a street in Little Havana. Police accused Victor Rubio of being the driver responsible for the crash.
However, the criminal case against Rubio collapsed after the only witness who could identify him as the driver disappeared. Without that testimony, prosecutors determined it would be too risky to take the case to trial.
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Tomas Brito and family
Despite that setback, state attorneys pursued another legal avenue to try to obtain a prison sentence.
Rubio was already a convicted felon who was on probation for an unrelated child abuse case at the time of the deadly crash. Prosecutors presented evidence from the hit-and-run during a probation violation hearing, arguing that Rubio had violated the terms of his probation by leaving the scene of the crash that killed Brito in 2024.
During the hearing, Judge Andrea Wolfson determined Rubio was in violation of probation for leaving the scene of the deadly crash and faking a report to law enforcement. Prosecutors alleged Rubio reported the car used in the crash as stolen.
“The court finds that Mr. Rubio is in violation with respect to leaving the scene of a crash,” the judge said, since a probation violation could be proven by a lower standard than what jurors consider when deliberating a verdict.
Rubio addressed the court and asked for mercy, telling the judge he was working to become “a different person and a different man.”
But Wolfson ultimately sentenced Rubio to 18 years in prison.
“I think that justice was served for my brother, for my family, with the loss that we had to endure,” Humberto Brito said after the ruling. “We’re very, very satisfied with what occurred here today in court.”
After hearing the prison sentence, prosecutors dismissed all of the charges against Rubio related to the hit-and-run crash. Although this case never made it to trial, the victim’s family said the outcome still brought a sense of accountability.
“Justice was served,” said Dulce Del Pino, Brito’s mother, told NBC6.
“I think it was an incredibly hard sentence. I respect the court. But I ultimately do not agree with her decision,” said Rubio’s attorney, Jordan Lewin, adding he was glad the hit-and-run charges were dismissed.