Norristown man charged in crash that killed his girlfriend and her 3-year-old daughter in Valley Forge Park

A Norristown man has been charged with homicide by vehicle and related crimes after his car hit a tree in Valley Forge National Historical Park on a rainy night last month in a crash that killed his 20-year-old girlfriend and her 3-year-old daughter, authorities said Wednesday.

Brayan Gonzalez-Paez, 22, was speeding in his Toyota Yaris — driving 70 to 80 mph in a 35-mph zone on Valley Forge Park Road — when he lost control of the vehicle, authorities said. His girlfriend, Angelica Amaya Briceno, was in the front passenger seat, and her daughter was in the back seat, when the car careened off the road.

None of the three was wearing safety restraints at the time of the crash, police said, and there was no child car seat in the vehicle.

Amaya Briceno was pronounced dead at the scene and her daughter was taken to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in King of Prussia, where she was pronounced dead less than an hour later, authorities said. Gonzalez-Paez suffered a broken hip and a cut to the face and was in the hospital for about a day, said Kate Delano, spokesperson for the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.

Gonzalez-Paez, of the 600 block of West Main Street, was charged with two counts of homicide by vehicle, reckless driving, driving without a license, and related crimes in connection with the crash, which happened at 1:14 a.m. on Jan. 13.

According to the affidavit of probable cause for his arrest, Gonzalez-Paez was speeding as he approached a curve and lost control of the car. He hit the brakes, and the car went off the road, spun counterclockwise, and traveled 74 feet across a grassy area until the front passenger-side door of the car hit the tree, the affidavit said.

Gonzalez-Paez told police he was making a delivery for DoorDash and was on his way to pick up food from Dunkin’ at the Valley Forge Casino at the time of the crash, according to the affidavit. But investigators said they later learned that was not true, the document said.

Gonzalez-Paez, they said, had entered the country illegally from Mexico last year, and was awaiting a deportation hearing.

DoorDash requires a background check and state-issued driver’s license, the affidavit said, so Gonzalez-Paez would not have been able to work as a driver for the company.

He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Feb. 14, according to court records.