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Driver pleads guilty in fatal Kitsilano hit-and-run

(Shelley Moore / CTV News Vancouver) (Shelley Moore / CTV News Vancouver)
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A man who was charged in a fatal 2022 hit-and-run in Vancouver's Kitsilano neighbourhood has pleaded guilty to criminal negligence causing death.

The B.C. Prosecution Service confirmed the plea in an email to CTV News, saying Alexandre Romero Arata is set to be sentenced on Jan. 11, 2024.

The June 19, 2022 hit-and-run was captured on surveillance video, which shows that the impact of the speeding vehicle sent the victim flying several metres. The driver does not stop.

About 30 seconds later, another motorist stops and gets out of the car to check on the victim. That driver remained on scene and other onlookers could be seen covering the body with a blanket.

First responders arrived a few minutes later.

Two days after the crash, the VPD announced that it had arrested the person it believed to be the driver.

Romero Arata was charged in February of 2023.

The victim was identified in the days after the incident as Eoghan Byrne, an Irishman who had begun working for a local tech company just a few months earlier.

Byrne's loved ones posted on an Irish memorial site, describing him as an “adored son” and “beautiful brother” who is survived by his “heartbroken parents, doting siblings” and a “wide circle of special friends.”

With files from CTV News Vancouver's Ian Holliday 

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