The driver responsible for allegedly fatally striking two bicyclists on the Rickenbacker Causeway in January, appeared in a Miami-Dade court on Friday.
21-year-old Alejandro Alvarez is facing criminal DUI charges for the death of cyclist Walter Reyes and for injuring the other cyclist, Henry Hernandez.
Alvarez faces charges of one of leaving the scene of a crash involving death, felony in the first degree.
The cyclists, according to detectives, were in the bike lane when they were hit.
Reyes, the CFO of the real-estate Keyes Company, died on the scene. He was cycling in Key Biscayne, along the Crandon Park Marina on the Rickenbacker Causeway.
Reyes’ wife and daughter were in the courtroom Friday along with Hernandez, who is now in a wheelchair, after spending time in the hospital for his injuries.
"The defendant fled the scene of the accident. He went home where he took a golf club. He bashed out his rear passenger side window," the prosecutor said in court Friday.
Alvarez entered a plea of not guilty with his parents standing behind him in court.
"Ale and his family are absolutely devastated by what has happened. We really don't have words that to express how sorry he is and his family is, words don't do it justice," David Marcus, Alvarez's defense attorney said.
A new law recently passed in honor of Aaron Cohen, another cyclist who killed on the same roadway three years ago. The law promises harsher penalties for hit-and-run drivers.
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If convicted, Alvarez faces a maximum sentence of 50-years in state prison.
Cohen’s wife, Patty Cohen, appeared in court to show support for the victim's families.
"My husband, Aaron was killed 3-years ago this past Sunday almost in the exact same circumstance as Mr. Reyes. It's eerily similar and I am so angry that this could even ever happen again," Cohen said.
Alvarez is due back in court on Tuesday to get fitted for a GPS ankle bracelet as he awaits his trial.
