EMT Gets 7 Years In Prison For Killing Woman In Fairfield Hit-And-Run

FAIRFIELD, CT — Marileidy Morel-Araujo would have celebrated her 34th birthday next week, but instead of attending a birthday party, friends and family gathered Wednesday at a courthouse in Bridgeport.

It was there that the man who killed Araujo in a drunken hit-and-run was sentenced.

Declan P. Kot, an emergency medical technician from Easton who was 22 at the time of the crash July 4, 2020, pleaded guilty in September to second-degree manslaughter, evading responsibility for a death and evidence tampering. On Wednesday, he received a 20-year prison sentence, suspended after seven years, with at least two served, and five years of probation.

“In the era of Uber and Lyft, Declan Kot chose to drive his monster truck,” said Denise Fernandez, who would have become Araujo’s sister-in-law had Araujo survived, and who asked that Kot’s Dodge Ram pickup be crushed. “She had a better chance of surviving somebody swinging a baseball bat at her.”

On the day of the crash, Kot had six drinks and was recorded admitting he was intoxicated before he struck Araujo with his side mirror while driving 54 mph and a 35-mph zone, according to prosecutor Tiffany Lockshier. Kot fled, leaving Araujo in the 2000 block of Redding Road, where another driver stopped and stayed with her until emergency crews arrived, Lockshier said. Kot downloaded a police scanner app, sat in a commuter parking lot and later drove past the scene, according to Lockshier, who has said he also replaced his broken mirror.

“He left her there to die alone,” Lockshier said.

Kot was stopped by police three days after the crash while driving his pickup and arrested the following evening. He initially said he thought he had hit a branch, before admitting two hours into a police interview that he had seen Araujo, according to Lockshier.

Araujo’s fiance, Daniel Fernandez, a police trooper for 25 years, recounted talking to officers the night of the crash, knowing there was no way Araujo would survive. Sean Connors, an attorney representing Araujo’s family, read several emotional victim impact statements.

“Her life was worth saving that night,” said one, from Elizabeth Ramos.

Originally from the Dominican Republic, Araujo moved to New Jersey when she was 9. She worked in real estate marketing, earned a master's degree in 2019 from William Paterson University and had started a travel blog not long before the crash. She lived in Matamoras, Pennsylvania, where she and her fiance were renovating a home and planned to start a family. They were celebrating the Fourth of July in Fairfield with Denise Fernandez when Araujo took her dog for a walk on Redding Road.

Following statements from family and friends, a slideshow played in the courtroom as a tribute to Araujo’s life. She smiled in pictures taken during birthdays, holidays, graduations and family parties. Lockshier said she had received over 400 letters from Araujo’s friends and family.

“A life was lost, a beautiful life,” Lockshier said. “That amount of loss just can’t be forgotten.”

When it came time for Kot to speak, he cried so hard he could barely get the words out.

“I can’t bring your daughter back,” he said. “I hope that I can make the most of the time I have.”

In addition to the prison sentence, Judge Tracy Lee Dayton mandated that Kot complete 500 hours of community service during his probation. He must also participate in five victim impact panels for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, undergo substance abuse evaluation and treatment, and keep an ignition interlock device in his vehicle for the first three years of probation.

“I strongly agree with the statement that people are more than their worst act,” Dayton said.

She noted Kot’s work as an Eagle Scout and EMT, and that he was an aspiring firefighter, urging him to use his future for good and not let Araujo’s family down.

“I cannot get over the horrific decisions you made,” she said. “Ultimately, it’s not for me to understand. It’s for you to live with.”