ST. LOUIS – A Breckenridge Hills man made his first appearance in St. Louis Circuit Court on Thursday after being charged with a fatal hit-and-run crash in the city’s Soulard neighborhood this past March.
The crash happened just after 1:30 a.m. on Sunday, March 17, near the intersection of Gravois Avenue and Russell Boulevard, according to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s probable cause statement.
Police said Cynthia Curtis was crossing the street when she was struck by a speeding vehicle traveling eastbound on Gravois. The driver did not stop and continued eastbound on Gravois. Curtis was rushed to the hospital, where she later died. She was 43.
Police said surveillance cameras allowed investigators to identify the make and model of the vehicle, as well as other notable features. Investigators learned the vehicle had been stopped a few days prior to the hit-and-run and police retained the driver’s information.
Authorities located the vehicle and noticed some repairs had been made. The vehicle was towed, and police spoke with a woman who said that her son, Eddy Aguiluz-Castro, told her he’d recently been in an accident.
Police said they spoke with Aguiluz-Castro, who admitted to hitting Curtis and said he was drunk at the time.
The St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office charged Aguiluz-Castro with second-degree assault, armed criminal action, and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death. Aguiluz-Castro was jailed without bond.
According to the probable cause statement, Aguiluz-Castro has an arrest warrant against him in Texas for human smuggling, and federal authorities say he’s in the country illegally, but did not specify his country of origin.
