A 21-year-old Oswego man has been charged with first-degree murder following a hit-and-run crash on Sunday in Yorkville that left a 23-year-old man from Sandwich dead and another person injured, according to the Yorkville Police Department.
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Jacob T. Lestina, of Oswego, has been charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder, aggravated battery and failing to report an accident involving personal injury or death, the Yorkville Police Department said in a news release Tuesday.
On Sunday, Yorkville police responded to a parking lot in the 300 block of East Veterans Parkway for a reported hit-and-run crash involving two pedestrians. There, they found two adults who had been struck by a vehicle that had fled the scene, police said.
Both were taken to an area hospital, and one of the pedestrians — Victor M. Hernandez Medina, 23, of Sandwich — was ultimately pronounced dead. The other was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Preliminary investigation indicated that those involved had arranged to meet at the location prior to the incident, and that the driver of the vehicle intentionally struck the two individuals before fleeing the area, police said.
A short time later, a vehicle matching the description of the one that had fled the scene was located in Oswego and the driver was taken into custody, according to police.
According to an update provided by the police department on Tuesday evening, its investigation determined that Hernandez Medina, the other pedestrian and a third adult had arranged to meet Lestina for a marijuana transaction.
A brief altercation occurred during the meeting, after which Lestina drove away from the immediate area, the news release Tuesday from the police department said. Evidence obtained in the investigation indicates that he subsequently returned, using his vehicle to strike Hernandez Medina and the other pedestrian on multiple attempts, per the department.
Following the incident, Lestina fled the area, but was located shortly after by Oswego Police Department officers at a home in Oswego, the news release said. He was then taken into custody and has remained in custody since then, police said
On Tuesday, Lestina was charged with three counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted first-degree murder, three counts of aggravated battery and two counts of failure to report an accident involving personal injury or death, according to the Yorkville Police Department.
Lestina had a pretrial hearing set for Wednesday, and was listed in custody as of Wednesday morning, Kendall County detainee records show. He is next set to appear in court on Oct. 7, per Kendall County Circuit Court records.