Family of construction worker fatally hit on Connecticut highway hoping to propose bill in his honor

HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — After losing his life while working on a Connecticut highway in June, the family of Jose Diaz-Nieves are hoping to propose a bill in his honor.

“We need legislation that is going to protect the family of those who lost their life in construction jobs such as Jose lost his life,” Archbishop Dexter Burke said at the vigil held for Diaz-Nieves on Wednesday.

The bill would provide free college or trade school education for the children of any worker who is tragically killed while working through no fault of their own. The bill has yet to be proposed.

Three people — Trooper First Class Aaron Pelletier, DOT worker Andrew DiDomenico and Diaz-Nieves — have died while working on Connecticut roads in the past five weeks, according to DOT data. This is the same amount of work zone deaths for the entire years of 2022 and 2023.

Tommy Nguyen, the driver of the car that killed the 54-year-old construction worker, claims in his defense that he was having a seizure at the time of the incident. He is set to appear in court on July 8.

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