Manslaughter plea likely in dragging death

A Lorton man charged with striking a pedestrian on Interstate 95 with his sport utility vehicle and dragging him on the highway for more than eight miles is expected to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter as part of a plea bargain.

Josuel Galdino, 25, yesterday waived his right to a preliminary hearing on the involuntary manslaughter charge. A plea hearing was scheduled for June 9, at which time Mr. Galdino’s attorney said a guilty plea likely will be entered.

As part of the plea bargain, prosecutors dropped charges of driving while intoxicated and felony hit-and-run.

Police said Mr. Galdino was driving a Mitsubishi Montero south on I-95 near the Fairfax County Parkway Feb. 29 when he hit Fitsum Gebreegziabher, 27, of Woodbridge, Va. Mr. Gebreegziabher had stopped and gotten out of his Toyota Camry after getting a flat tire in the left lane.

During the collision, Mr. Gebreegziabher became pinned in the front-end suspension of Mr. Galdino’s car and was dragged 8 miles to Mr. Galdino’s home in the 9100 block of Stone Garden Drive.

Police said the body became dislodged when Mr. Galdino put the car in reverse while trying to park. After he discovered the body, he called police at about 6 a.m. — two hours after police towed Mr. Gebreegziabher’s car — and told them that he might have hit someone.

Yesterday, Mr. Galdino, who is in jail awaiting formal indictment by a grand jury, appeared shaken during the brief court appearance. The family of the victim wept at the conclusion of the hearing.

Mr. Galdino’s attorney, Daniel Lopez, said after the hearing that blood alcohol tests showed his client was not drinking when Mr. Gebreegziabher was struck.

“He wanted people to know that he did not have alcohol in his system,” Mr. Lopez said. “He’s very remorseful.”

Mr. Gebreegziabher’s death was caused by multiple blunt force injuries, according to the Virginia Medical Examiner’s Office, which declined to release further details.

Prosecutors have said the death was caused by the dragging as opposed to the initial impact. Mr. Lopez said that the autopsy produced “nothing definitive” about whether the death resulted from the impact or the dragging.

Mr. Gebreegziabher was a native of Ethiopia. He had been staying with a relative in Woodbridge during a visit to the Washington area.

At the time of the accident, Mr. Galdino was in the United States on a temporary visa and was a domestic worker for an employee of the Brazilian Embassy.