Cape Cod Times pool photo/Merrily Cassidy.
BARNSTABLE – The family of the man killed in a Friday night hit and run in Centerville is speaking out after the suspect was arraigned Monday in Barnstable District Court.
Centerville resident Sarah Hunt, 33, pleaded not guilty to charges of motor vehicle homicide by reckless operation, leaving the scene of personal injury and death, and possession of an open container of alcohol.
Hunt, a mother of two, is accused of striking and killing 62-year-old Centerville resident John Pina on Route 28 near the Bell Tower Mall on Friday night.
“She has to deal with what she did for the rest of her life,” said Kenny Pina, the brother of John Pina. “It’s going to be hard her like us. She knows what she did.”
“Their lives have changed, our lives have changed for the rest of our lives,” Kenny Pina added. “Her kids have to deal with this, she’s got two little kids, they’ve got to deal with what her mom did.”
“The difference is they’re going to be living and my brother is not,” said Bill Pina.
Hunt or her lawyer, Matthew Kelley, did not comment to reporters as they left the courthouse Wednesday.
According to a Barnstable Police report, Hunt pulled into the nearby Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank parking lot immediately after the incident Friday night and walked over to the crash scene. Witnesses say Hunt fled after being told that she had hit Pina.
Surveillance footage from the bank found that Hunt placed what appeared to be an aluminum can in the trash at the bank before checking the crash site. Officers recovered a partially empty can of Angry Orchard Hard Cider from the trash bin the next day.
Members of the Pina family believed the evidence pointing to an open container of alcohol being in the vehicle at the time of the accident was justification for not allowing Hunt out on bail.
“It’s just hurtful to see someone walk when you lose someone,” said Desiree Filkins, the niece of John Pina.
Hunt was released on $2,500 bail and is scheduled to return to court on February 23 for a probable cause hearing.
The court barred Hunt from operating a vehicle while out on bail.
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