The family of a man hit by a truck driven by his fiancée is now suing the woman for wrongful death. Las Cruces resident Carlos Nevarez III was hit and killed in June 2013 when Annette Fuschini ran him over as he was walking along a sidewalk after getting out of her truck.
Nevarez, who turned 42 that day, and Fuschini, 39, were in the middle of an argument when Nevarez got out of the truck near a car wash. He started walking through landscaping gravel near a sidewalk when he was hit. Nevarez initially survived the crash but later died at a hospital in Las Cruces.
While Fuschini was initially charged with first-degree murder, she was eventually convicted of aggravated DWI and involuntary manslaughter. The manslaughter charge is a fourth-degree felony, and she was given three and a half years in prison.
Both Fuschini and Geico Indemnity Co., her insurance carrier, were named as defendants in the suit. Nevarez’s family filed the suit on June 10 in Las Cruces’ 3rd Judicial District Court. The lawsuit accuses Fuschini of careless and inattentive driving, failure to exercise due care, and failure to stop, claiming the crash was the direct result of her negligence. The suit also claims Nevarez’s family has endured personal suffering, anguish, and pain. The family requested that damages be determined by the court at the trial, which does not yet have a date.
The family’s attorney, John P. Cosentino, did not comment on the suit when requested, but he did file a notice in an attempt to delay the case because he was still waiting for Fuschini to respond. He has claimed he can’t find Fuschini, but Ashley Espinoza, a spokeswoman with the Department of Corrections, noted that Fuschini has been in regular contact with her probation officer after finishing her parole.
The two attorneys representing both Fuschini and Geico, John A. Frase and Steven L. Gonzales of Albuquerque, asked for the suit to be dismissed in a filing on August 25. The judge in the case, Marci E. Beyer, has not yet addressed the latest filing.