Aurora resident Luz Buitrago is supposed to be enjoying retirement and celebrating a recent 30th wedding anniversary with her husband. Instead, she’s worried whether the man who pleaded guilty in his death will serve any jail time at all.
Rafael Alberto Buitrago, 65, was killed while walking his dog the night of April 3 when Michael Graham-Hyde, 73, crashed into him near East Wesley Drive and East Caspian Circle and fled the scene, according to court records.
Graham-Hyde told police he had been awake for 38 hours after returning from an overseas trip and was asleep at the wheel when he hit Buitrago and the couple’s dog, Nova, according to an arrest affidavit.
He got out of his SUV, saw Rafael Buitrago and “panicked,” choosing to drive away when he saw another car coming because he thought the other driver would stop and help, police wrote in the affidavit.
Buitrago was pronounced dead at the hospital, and Nova was killed instantly, police said. Graham-Hyde turned himself in seven hours later after seeing a Nextdoor post of his car and learning that Rafael Buitrago was killed.
“Why did he have to wait?” Luz Buitrago told The Denver Post this week. “Seconds make a huge difference in this particular situation. If he had called 911, maybe my husband would be in a wheelchair and he would be with me.”
Graham-Hyde pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident involving death, a class 3 felony, on Monday, according to court records. The charge includes a potential prison sentence of four to 12 years, though probation is also possible.
The plea deal dropped an additional charge of careless driving resulting in death from his case, court records show.
Rafael Buitrago was a beloved member of his community, Luz Buitrago said, particularly for the kindness and respect he showed every person he met. He worked in accounting and was active in community service through the couple’s church.
While Luz Buitrago said she knows Graham-Hyde didn’t intend to kill her husband, she’s frustrated by the possibility that he may be sentenced to probation and that Aurora city officials have not taken steps to make the street where Rafael Buitrago died any safer, such as adding a speed bump.
“We have to respect other people’s lives, and they have to change the law,” she said. “Probation is unacceptable.”
In a statement, Aurora spokesperson Ryan Luby said the city’s public works team reviewed traffic data after the crash and found there were not any speeding-related crashes in the area in the last three years.
After a 2022 traffic study that found most drivers were speeding at 37 to 42 mph along East Wesley Drive, public works crews installed curb extensions at a trail crossing and push-button flashing crosswalk signs, he said.
“The city urges all drivers to put their phones down, stay focused on the road, and follow traffic laws,” Luby said in a statement. “The decisions made while driving can have lasting and life-changing consequences.”
Graham-Hyde is scheduled to appear in court for a sentencing hearing on Sept. 29, according to court records.
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