Autopsy report shows hit-and-run victim died ‘within seconds’

28-year-old Moses Sala is pictured with his wife Tiffany and his son Giovanni. Moses killed in a hit-and-run accident December 4 while trying to deliver medication to his father who is paralyzed and needs medication at certain times. (Provided photo)

FAIRFIELD — Moses Sala died within seconds of being hit by a truck while walking five feet off the shoulder of Peabody Road late last year, according to an autopsy report.

Sala, 28, of Fairfield, suffered multiple injuries from the impact of the truck and more injuries from landing on the side of the road late Dec. 4, 2012, said Deputy Jackson Harris with the Solano County Coroner’s Office. Sala had a skull fracture, broken pelvis, broken femurs, a fractured sternum, broken ribs, a bruised lung, bleeding in his head and several other internal and external injuries, according to reports.

Harris said the combination of so many injuries caused his body to shut down and he died almost instantly. Toxicology reports said Sala was not drunk at the time of the accident.

“Essentially, he died on impact,” Harris said. “There is no one injury that caused his death. He died within seconds.”

Charges have yet to be filed against Alex Perez Jr., 22, of Fairfield, who was arrested on suspicion of hit-and-run on Dec. 5, 2012, said Mary Nguyen, deputy district attorney. Nguyen said she was still waiting for word from the California Highway Patrol, which is handling the incident because it was in a rural area between Fairfield and Vacaville.

CHP Officer Darren Carrington said last week that his report is finished and he is waiting for his superiors to finalize it before sending it to the District Attorney’s Office. He could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Perez was contacted within hours at a home in Vacaville, where the truck was registered to his uncle, according to the CHP. He told Vacaville police officers he hit something, but didn’t know what it was, according to CHP reports.

Sala’s body came to rest around 300 feet away from where the vehicle was found abandoned. It remained there as Fairfield police officers tended to what they believed was a single-vehicle accident in the rain just after midnight. They were originally contacted by OnStar just before midnight, when an operator told dispatchers a vehicle had been disabled and the driver cut off contact.

Sala’s body was spotted by a motorist on the side of the road the morning of Dec. 5. He was pronounced dead just before 9 a.m. that day, according to the coroner’s report.

“He was obviously there all night, but there’s no reason to believe he sat there and cried out,” Harris said.

The details of the injuries were included in the coroner’s report and other medical documents obtained Thursday by the Daily Republic. Some of those documents also shed some light into the hours leading up to Sala’s death.

Sala was involved in his own car accident with his son earlier in the day Dec. 4. Later, he was involved in an argument with his wife. Fairfield police responded to the scene, according to reports. That incident was resolved when Sala left the home on foot around 11:30 p.m., according to reports.

Sala’s mother, Charmaine Killsright, said Sala was walking to his father’s house in Vacaville to deliver medication.

According to the coroner’s report, Sala was walking northbound on the west side of Peabody Road when he was struck by the truck traveling southbound. The truck left the marked lane for an unknown reason and struck Sala, reports said.

After being struck, Sala’s body landed on wet grass, before sliding and coming to rest 100 feet from where he was hit. The report said a backpack, shoes and broken car parts were found between the body and the point of impact.

Reach Danny Bernardini at 427-6935 or dbernardini@dailyrepublic.net. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/dbernardinidr.

Danny Bernardini

Danny is a newspaper man born and raised in Vacaville. He attended Chico State University and has written for the Enterprise Record and the Reporter. Covers the City of Fairfield, education and crime. A's, Warriors and Saints fan. Listener of vinyl, frequent visitor to the East Bay. Registered "decline to state" voter. Loves a good steak.

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