Hilton Head man going to prison for 20 years after hit-and-run that killed bicyclist
A Hilton Head man was sentenced to 20 years in prison after killing a 66-year-old bicyclist in 2018, hitting him and then driving off.
Jiovaani Aranza-Gallegos, 30, of Hilton Head was found guilty on Wednesday of felony hit-and-run and habitual traffic offender resulting in death, according to the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.
Luis Lorenzana, 66, was riding his bike on New Orleans Road at Pensacola Place when he was hit from behind by a 2008 Honda Odyssey at 5 a.m. on Sept. 1, 2018.
Aranza-Gallegos, who was behind the wheel of the Odyssey, had a suspended license at the time of the collision.
“Later that morning, a neighbor reported seeing Aranza-Gallegos outside washing what appeared to be blood from a minivan. Deputies arrived and reported seeing a bucket with rags near the van and a smashed windshield,” said a release from the Solicitor’s Office.
Lorenzana’s cause of death was blunt force trauma, the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office told the Island Packet in 2018.
Circuit Judge Carmen Mullen handed down Wednesday’s sentence, which requires Aranza-Gallegos to serve 17 years of his sentence before he is eligible for parole.
Aranza-Gallegos was charged as a habitual traffic offender five days before killing Lorenzana, when he forced his girlfriend into his truck after a fight at Hudson’s Seafood restaurant.
While driving, he told her he was going to “throw her over the bridge,” punched her on her right cheek, and threw her purse out of the window, according to a 2018 Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office report.
