Philadelphia truck driver found guilty in Turnpike crash that killed father and two children
PENN TOWNSHIP, Pa. —
A jury has found Santos Valentin, a 31-year-old truck driver from Philadelphia, guilty of homicide by vehicle and involuntary manslaughter in a crash on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in July 2024 that killed a father and his two children.
The assistant district attorney told the jury that Valentin turned his double tractor-trailer into a “missile” that careened down the highway because he was paying attention to his phone instead of the road.
Valentin testified that he was using an app on his phone to search for a gas station.
The crash occurred in Penn Township, about three miles east of the Lancaster-Lebanon interchange, and claimed the lives of 43-year-old Donnell Hickson of New York, his 18-year-old son Decir, and his 11-year-old daughter.