Telenovela Star Pablo Lyle Sentenced To Five Years For Deadly Miami Road Rage Attack

Telenovela actor Pablo Lyle was sentenced to five years in prison for fatally attacking another man in a Miami road rage incident in 2019.

A jury in October convicted the Mexican actor, now 36, of involuntary manslaughter in the 2019 death of Juan Ricardo Hernandez Sr., 63, according to NBC Miami. He could have faced a maximum sentence of 15 years — which Hernandez's family requested. Lyle did also receive eight years of probation, an order to attend conflict resolution management and must serve 500 hours of community service after his release.

The incident began on March 31, 2019, when Lyle and his family were headed to the Miami airport after a 10-day vacation in an SUV driven by Lyle's brother-in-law, Lucas Delfino, according to the Miami Herald. Delfino, the paper said, got off at the wrong exit and cut Hernandez's car off near the intersection of Northwest 27^th Avenue and 14^th Street attempting to get into the left-hand lane to make a U-turn.

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Hernandez honked and, when the cars got to a red light, got out of his car to approach Delfino’s vehicle. Video from the scene reportedly showed that Hernandez went up to Defino's window, banged on it with an open hand and and yelled at the driver, Oxygen.com previously reported.

Del Fino got out of his car to argue with Hernandez, forgetting to put his car in park. When the car began rolling into the intersection, he jumped back in to stop it. At the same time, Lyle, who had also exited the vehicle, began moving toward Hernandez, ultimately delivering a punch that sent him tumbling backward, according to video of the incident. Hernandez struck his head on the pavement, causing an internal brain hemorrhage that left him unconscious; he died at Jackson Memorial Hospital four days later after being taken off life support.

The actor previously claimed that he attacked the other driver because he feared that he would attack his family – however, Hernandez was unarmed at the time of his death and the video footage showed he was backing up toward his car when Lyle charged at him.

“I truly thought I was defending my family,” Lyle said in court on Friday, the Herald reported.

“I am very sorry,” Lyle added in Spanish to Hernandez’s family at his sentencing, according to NBC Miami. “I always pray for him and for you, with all my heart.”

“I can only imagine the pain of losing a loved one, someone that important, especially in a situation like this. I think about it every day,” he said. “I pray that this day will bring you closure and that whatever happens today you can leave this courtroom with grace in your hearts.”

“I never in my wildest dreams could have imagined something like this could have happened, that life could be lost and so many others affected so drastically in just a matter of seconds and just one punch.”

Mercedes Arce, who said she had been in a relationship with Hernandez for four years before the fatal accident, said she had never seen Hernandez behave aggressively on the road or otherwise before the incident.

Hernandez’s son Juan Ricardo Hernandez Jr. called his father a “joyful person,” according to People.

“A beautiful person, there are no words to describe who my father was,” he said.

Lyle's defense attorney Phil Reizenstein said he intends to challenge his client's conviction.

“In my opinion, his conviction was wrong, it remains wrong,” he said, according to NBC Miami. “He’s innocent. He didn’t break the law in the state of Florida. He was defending his family. But the sentence was fair based on the judge’s consideration of what we presented to her.”