Police have arrested a man in connection with a hit-and-run that killed a pedestrian in Corona, Queens, on New Year’s Day.
Jonnathan Barbecho, 31, of East Hampton, was arrested Thursday and charged with manslaughter, aggravated vehicular homicide, vehicular assault, driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, among several other charges, according to the NYPD.
Barbecho has pleaded not guilty, according to his attorney, Jose Luis Nieves.
The victim has been identified as Darwin Adrian Malan Cargua, 37.
Police said the crash happened around 4 a.m. on Jan. 1, when the driver of a white SUV traveling south on 102nd Street hit two pedestrians who were crossing 37th Avenue. Malan Cargua was thrown into a parked car and pinned underneath. He died at the scene. A second man, 24, was taken to the hospital in critical condition. The NYPD did not have any further information regarding his current condition.
At the time of the incident, the driver of the SUV fled the scene.
The crash was one of two fatal hit-and-runs on New Year’s Day. They came even as the city’s transportation department celebrated a historic drop in traffic deaths — 205 fatalities in 2025, the fewest since record-keeping began in 1910.