Prison for NJ hit-run driver who killed and injured couple on Valentine date

🔻 Couple was walking when struck
🔻 One died, one was badly hurt
🔻Suspended license driver admitted to crash

A New Jersey man driving on a suspended license has been sentenced to prison for the Valentine’s Day hit-and-run of a young couple last year, which killed one victim and badly hurt the other.

Dhkir Robinson pleaded guilty less than three months ago to vehicular homicide, leaving the scene of a deadly auto crash and assault by auto, all from the incident in Essex County.

He was sentenced to an aggregate term of 16 years by Superior Court Judge Karina Fuentes.

On Feb. 14, 2024, the 44-year-old Robinson was under the influence and speeding around 55 miles an hour when he hit 22-year-old Wiston Perlaza and 21-year-old Jocelyn Pietri on Milton Avenue in Nutley.

Both victims were thrown by the impact — Perlaza died at the scene around 7 p.m.

Pietri was sent over the pedestrian walkway and down onto the shoulder of the Garden State Parkway, below.

She survived, but suffered multiple broken bones and injuries and had to spend months in physical therapy, learning how to walk again.

The couple had been on a Valentine’s Day date and were walking, hand-in-hand to a relative’s house at the time of the crash, according to a GoFundMe campaign for Pietri’s recovery expenses.

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Robinson, formerly of Lumberton, had six prior felony convictions before being caught shortly after the deadly crash, prosecutors said.

In Newark that same night, police tracked down a maroon Toyota Camry with considerable front-end damage, as described by witnesses of the hit-and-run.

Robinson was found with cocaine and suspected ecstasy in his pockets, according to an affidavit filed in the case.

“I hope that this sentence brings a sense of closure to the families,” Essex County Prosecutor Victoria Saraiva said after the sentencing.

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