And, tonight, police are saying that one of the men responsible for leaving him in the van to endure that punishing end is PC Errol Peralta.
He's the officer who drove the prisoner van from San Joaquin to the Corozal police station, and according to his attorney Norman Rodriguez, he wasn't aware that he was transporting a passenger. He merely received the key from the diarist, drove the van to the station, and handed over the keys.
But, his fellow officers say Peralta was present when their commander briefed them about the prisoners in the van.
Today his attorney discussed PC Peralta's defence:
Norman Rodriquez, Attorney- at-Law
"The person has retained me; he is a police officer and the reason why he approached me and consulted with me is because he was suspended from work. They said pending investigation, but just before I left Corozal this afternoon he informed me that he was advised to be ready for tomorrow, because they are going to charge him for manslaughter. Now, that is unofficial until it is actually established."
Reporter
"How frightening is it to go from a man who fights crime to a man charged for a crime?"
Norman Rodriquez, Attorney- at-Law
"I believe that he would be best able to answer that, but if I put myself in his position, I think it could really be frightening, especially the kind of officer he is who does that community policing and interacts alot with the community and now he has to face that same community being charged for a crime such as manslaughter."
"I can tell you that my heart is heavy for him, because like I said if the instructions are on point, then it is not something that will stick, I can assure you that."
Reporter
"Has your client indicated to you that he was not supposed to be working on the night in question?"
Norman Rodriquez, Attorney- at-Law
"He was supposed to be working, but he was supposed to be working in a different position than being a driver. He was asked to do a favor, he did it and he was not informed, those are my instructions, I'm instructed that he was not informed that or he was not given any further instructions other than to take the vehicle and park it."
Reporter
"If your client is the driver, he's the one with whom they would say the buck stops - the last person in the chain to be charged, because the driver who took the van to be refuel is not being charged."
Norman Rodriquez, Attorney- at-Law
"The buck stops - I don't believe it stops with him. Like I said I am speaking on the instructions that I've been given and I would want to say that this may be only an attempt to appease the public so that they can say well somebody has been charged, but I want to advised the public that after you are charged there is the due process and is in that due process that some decision is made as to whether you are guilty or not. Like I said before if the instructions that I have received are on point, then this is a charge that will not hold. It's like a sieve in which you are trying to pour water."
Rodriguez also expressed condolences to the Uh family calling the young man's death both reckless and careless while maintaining that his client is not at fault.
Peralta maintains that PC Borland never instructed him to remove a prisoner from the van upon arrival at the police station.
