Pedro Silva-Diaz, 34, took the stand Friday to tell his story after being accused of killing a 13-year-old boy in a hit-and-run crash in Collier County in 2017.
UPDATE: A jury has found Silva-Diaz guilty on two counts for the hit-and-run crash that killed Shayden Colvin. He has been found guilty of leaving the scene of a crash, causing death and driving without a valid license causing death.
It was emotional in the courtroom, as the jury gave its verdict following about an hour and a half of deliberations.
During the trial, Silva-Diaz stuck with a narrative that he thought a “weird jump” he felt was a nail coming out of his tire.
The crash happened in 2017 at the intersection of Lakewood Boulevard and Estey Avenue in East Naples, where Shayden Colvin was hit while riding his bike.
The defendant says he knew he had a nail in his tire two weeks before the incident, but didn’t remove it because he was afraid the tire would go flat.
On the stand, Silva-Diaz said, “My thought was this was the nail I was told the tire had that had come out so the tire had started to blow out that’s the reason why I accelerated a little bit to go home because I could not leave the truck at that time at night at the place.”
The state quickly fired back.
Mara Marzano, with the prosecution rebutted, “You’re suggesting that the jury should accept that you knew, or felt enough, because you thought a nail had been in your tire for two weeks had suddenly come out.”
The state is saying it’s an “enormous coincidence” that the nail would come out at the exact time and spot where a driver hit Shayden.
The state claims Silva-Diaz hit Colvin and knew he did, but drove off after realizing he had an expired license and had been drinking.
A jury couldn’t decide if Pedro Silva-Diaz was guilty of leaving the scene of the crash that killed Shayden during his first trial, which ended in a mistrial.
Closing arguments are scheduled to begin after lunch; then the jury will deliberate.
The jury said they want to make a decision Friday.
Silva-Diaz will remain in custody at Collier County jail.