A hit-and-run driver who struck and killed a UC San Diego student was sentenced on June 26 to three years in state prison.
Corundolus Toussaint, 40, said nothing in court and was handcuffed immediately after San Diego Superior Court Judge Laura Halgren imposed judgement.
Toussaint pleaded guilty May 29 to hit and run in the Feb. 24, 2018 death of Andres Perkins, 21, who was struck at 2:30 a.m. on Interstate 5 near the Old Town exit.
Toussaint was given credit for 700 days in jail and fined $524. Toussaint had been free after his guilty plea May 29, and he returned for sentencing.
Halgren imposed two years for hit and run and ordered another year for Toussaint having a prior felony conviction for unlawful sale of controlled substances.
Deputy District Attorney Karra Reedy said Toussaint agreed to accept a three-year prison term, so the sentence was not a surprise.
“He deeply regrets his actions,” said his attorney. Manuel Avitia III. “Mr. Toussaint is sorry he didn’t stay at the scene.”
According to trial testimony, Toussaint was using his girlfriend’s car and drove down Garnet Avenue and picked up a woman he did not know in Mission Beach.
The two of them intended to drive to a downtown hotel, but Toussaint’s attention was diverted and he struck Perkins after he ran across the freeway, according to testimony. The impact caused the license plate to fall off and damaged the windshield.
Toussaint drove the bloodstained car to a service station on Pacific Highway where he abandoned the vehicle. The woman was seen on video cameras as wiping away her fingerprints or DNA on the door handles before she left and her identity is not known.
Toussaint’s girlfriend appeared in court Wednesday and asked for her 2004 Honda to be returned to her, as police had impounded it.
Reedy told the judge the car should be returned to her now that the case has concluded. Attorneys will file paperwork agreeing to release the car back.
Andres Perkins, of Murietta, wanted to go into medical school. His parents live out of town and did not attend the sentencing.
A jury deadlocked 6-6 Feb. 19 and a mistrial was declared. Avitia told a reporter another deadlocked jury was likely if Toussaint went on trial a second time. He told jurors the collision occurred “in the blink of an eye.”
Toussaint turned himself in to authorities several days after the collision, so it could not be determined if he had been drinking alcohol before the crash, said Reedy.
