Armando Quintero, who was the driver of the late vallenato artist Martín Elías and who was driving the van in which the singer had an accident, referred to the judicial process that was brought against him and recalled what happened the day of the accident in which Díaz died.
Martín Elías Díaz, son of the singer Diomedes Díaz, died on April 14, 2017 on the San Onofre-Lórica road, after a presentation made together with his band.
The van in which the artist was traveling suffered an accident and, later, he died in a care center.
This week, almost five years after the accident, a judge sentenced Armando Quintero, driver of the van in which Díaz was traveling, to 32 months in house arrest and a fine of 26.66 monthly minimum wages, for considering that the excess of speed caused the death of the singer.
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“After hypotheses and hypotheses, the judge determined that the true cause of the death of the Vallenato artist corresponds to speeding. The truck was going at 157 km/h, when on that road what corresponds is 50 km/h”, said Óscar Sierra, the representative of the victim’s family, to EL TIEMPO.Armando Quintero broke the silence and spoke about what happened on April 14 and what he experienced after the accident.
This was the accident, according to Armando Quintero
Quintero spoke with the program ‘Good day Colombia’, on the RCN channel, and said that before working with Martín Elías, he was working for Sergio Luis Rodríguez, the accordion player who worked with Peter Manjarres and Jorge Celedón.
Some time later, he received a call from a member of Martín’s team to offer him to be the artist’s driver.
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Regarding the accident, Quintero said that they were in Cartagena, since the artist and his family were resting for Holy Week. Then, they left for a concert in Coveñas.
I was following Rolando Ochoa’s truck at a normal speed and Martín told me to pick up the pace
“We were in Cartagena because Martín and his family were on vacation. That day we went out to Bocagrande to eat and then we went to bed. You had to leave at 1:40 am for Coveñas”, he counted.
According to Quintero, Martín sang around 6 am on April 14 and, when he finished his presentation, he got into the truck and received a call from his wife. They started again bound for Cartagena.
“I was following Rolando Ochoa’s truck at a normal speed and Martín told me to pick up the pace. I overtook Rolando and later I got out to relieve myself and in the meantime, Martín was changing his clothes”, he told ‘Good day Colombia’.
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This is how the vehicle in which Martín Elías had an accident remained.
When they started up again, a motorcycle got in the way: “The motorcycle goes in front of me to one side and the other, I go the other way to pass by the side of the motorcycle and when we overtake, the motorcycle comes against the truck” .
Quintero pulled the car to the opposite side, but said that the artist also pulled the steering wheel of the car. That’s when he lost control and the accident happened.
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“When Martín throws the rudder at me, the truck leaves from the left side (…) when I straighten up, the tire takes the hole and the truck stops from back to front,” he narrated.
The vehicle turned around several times and the artist was expelled from the truck, since he did not have a seat belt.
According to Quintero, the vallenato singer never wore a seat belt, Therefore, according to him, it is not true that Díaz had removed his belt to change his clothes, as some versions of the event indicated.
Martín Elías Díaz, Vallenato singer, remembered for songs such as The Earthquake, The Whip and Ten Reasons to Love You.
“Martín never used the belt, he only put it on once and it was because he was going to sleep. When he was awake he always went without it”, he said, as quoted by ‘RCN’.
Who was the driver of Martín Elías Díaz said that he has not had quiet nights again and affirmed that the departure of a good human being such as the artist has always hurt him.
In addition, he stated that his lawyer will appeal the sentence that sentenced him to 32 months in prison and that he does not have the money to pay the economic penalty that was imposed on him.
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