The TelevisaUnivision telenovela actor of Mi Adorable Maldición and La Sombra del Pasado and the Netflix series Yankee, Pablo Lyle, has been found guilty of manslaughter by a jury in Miami. Lyle had been under house arrest since 2019, according to Deadline. Lyle could also face up to 15 years behind bars.
“We the jury find as follows, as to count 1 manslaughter the defendant is guilty of manslaughter,” said one of the jurors after reaching a verdict subsequent about 5 hours of contemplation.
The telenovela actor was involved in a road rage altercation that resulted in 35-year-old Lyle punching Juan Ricardo Hernández, age 63, that occurred in March 2019. Lyle was a passenger being driven by his brother-in-law in his SUV when his brother-in-law cut off Hernández at the intersection of NW 27th Avenue and 14th Street, according to CBS Miami.
At the stoplight, Hernández banged on Lyle’s brother-in-law’s SUV window, which resulted in both gentlemen exiting the vehicle without realizing the SUV was not in park. After Lyle’s brother-in-law ran back to his SUV to stop it from rolling, Hernández walked back to his own vehicle; that is when surveillance showed Hernández being punched after Lyle ran towards him.
The lone punch was enough to knock Hernández unconscious, which later resulted in his death. Lyle claimed he acted in self-defense, under Florida’s Stand Your Ground Law, which was denied.
“I thought I was defending my family,” said Lyle.
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle released a statement that followed the verdict, via PopCulture.
“Today’s jury verdict finding Pablo Lyle guilty of the manslaughter death of 63-year-old Juan Ricardo Hernández shows the outrageous destructiveness of ‘Road Rage’ incidents.”
“Two lives were destroyed by simple roadway anger, a situation we see far too often on our streets and on streets across the country. I am very proud of the efforts and hard work by Assistant State Attorneys Shawn Abuhoff and Gabriela Alfaro that has brought a measure of justice to Mr. Hernández’s surviving family.”