Man who fled to Mexico after fatal hit-and-run sentenced

CHICAGO (AP) - A man who fled to Mexico following a 2009 hit-and-run that killed a DePaul University student has been sentenced in Chicago to eight years in prison.

Carlos Castillo pleaded guilty Friday to leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident involving the death of 25-year-old Rachel Gilliam.

Before Byrne's court appearance, Gilliam's sister, Audrey Gilliam, said she couldn't reconcile the remorse Castillo expressed in a letter he wrote the family with his unwillingness to return to the United States following the crime.

In sentencing Castillo, Byrne said when he escaped to Mexico, married and started a family, he "compounded the unfathomable anguish" of Gilliam's family.

Gilliam was struck from behind by Castillo's auto as she crossed a North Side street after finishing a shift as a bartender.