Two people facing charges in fatal crashes in Lorain County in 2022 and 2023

Two people recently were charged with felonies in Lorain County Common Pleas Court as a result of two fatal crashes over the past two years — one in Lorain in 2022 and one in Elyria in 2023. Melvin Sanchez Amaro, 28, of Cleveland, faces eight charges including two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide and three counts of vehicular assault, all felonies, as well as misdemeanor charges of street racing, speeding and failure to obey traffic control devices in a fatal crash at Homewood Drive and Grove Avenue in Lorain in May 2022. Arabella Yungmann, 21, of Lorain, faces felony charges of aggravated vehicular homicide and failure to stop after an accident and a misdemeanor vehicular homicide charge resulting from an alleged hit-and-run on North Abbe Road in Elyria in July 2023 in which a pedestrian was seriously injured and later died from their injuries. Served with their charges in December, both Sanchez Amaro and Yungmann pleaded not guilty. Both are free on bond, according to court records. Sanchez Amaro's case is assigned to Judge Christopher Rothgery's courtroom and Yungmann's case is being heard by Judge John Miraldi, according to court records. Attorneys Geoff Smith and Richard McClure are representing Yungmann. Smith said he had no comment on the case on Wednesday. A message seeking comment was left for Sanchez Amaro's attorney, Jenifer Berki. Sanchez Amaro case According to the Lorain County Prosecutor's Office, Sanchez Amaro and two passengers were in an Audi headed north on Grove Avenue/state Route 57 shortly before 7:30 p.m. May 10, 2022. In a report, Lorain police said a Ford Fusion and a Ford F-150 were stopped southbound on Grove Avenue at the Homewood Drive intersection. A Ford Ranger, driven by Michael Tackett of Lorain, was headed west on Homewood Drive through the intersection at Grove when it was hit by the Audi, according to police and prosecutors. Lorain police said the Audi went off the left side of the roadway, hit a sign, went into the southbound lane of Grove Avenue, hit the Ford Fusion then overturned and hit the F-150. The Audi and the F-150 both caught fire after the collision, police said. Witnesses said the Audi ran the red light at the intersection at more than 100 mph and turned into a "ball of fire" after the crash. Bystanders pulled two people from the Audi as it burned. Irelys Rosa-Santana, 17, of Cleveland, a passenger in the back seat of the Audi, was killed in the crash, according to the Lorain Police Department. Sanchez Amaro and a second passenger of his, Lebron Sanchez of Cleveland, and Tackett were seriously injured and hospitalized in critical condition following the crash, Lorain police said at the time. Yungmann case According to the prosecutor's office, Elyria police officers responded to the Discount Drug Mart at 500 N. Abbe Road just before 5 p.m. on July 26, 2023, to investigate a report that a pedestrian had been hit by a car that had left the scene. Judith Green, 73, had been hit by the car and seriously injured, with numerous broken bones that required surgery, according to prosecutors. She later died, and the Lorain County Coroner's Office determined the injuries she suffered in the crash led to her death, according to the prosecutor's office. Interviews and video evidence collected by Elyria police led them to charge Yungmann with the crime, according to the prosecutor's office. Yungmann's next appearance in court is March 11, according to court records. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.