Motorcyclist pleads guilty in crash that killed Georgia state trooper

A motorcyclist who caused a crash that killed a state trooper pleaded guilty Wednesday, according to the Gwinnett County district attorney.

Gerson Danilo Ayala-Rodriguez, 21, pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide in the January crash that killed Trooper Jimmy Cenescar. In addition to the felony charge, Ayala-Rodriguez also was convicted on misdemeanor charges of reckless driving, speeding, two counts each of driving without a license, operating a vehicle without insurance and operating an unregistered vehicle.

Ayala-Rodriguez was then sentenced to 20 years, including 17 to serve in prison, the Gwinnett District Attorney’s Office said.

“We tragically lost a young state trooper as a result of the defendant’s reckless driving,” Gwinnett DA Patsy Austin-Gatson said in a statement. “Ultimately, the defendant accepted responsibility for his actions in this, although it cannot bring back Trooper Cenescar. We hope this serves as a message to drivers and motorcyclists to drive within the safe bounds of the law.”

Ayala-Rodriguez was arrested five days after the crash and was indicted in May on a murder charge. With the negotiated plea deal, he avoided a trial.

Cenescar was attempting to stop Ayala-Rodriguez for a traffic violation on I-85 near Old Peachtree Road on Jan. 28, according to investigators. Instead of stopping, the motorcyclist drove through two lanes of traffic attempting to get away, the Department of Public Safety said. Ayala-Rodriguez hit a speed of 140 mph while fleeing the trooper, according to investigators.

Cenescar lost control of his Dodge Charger, which struck a guardrail, hit a DOT sign, traveled down an embankment and hit multiple trees and large draining rocks before striking a retaining wall, investigators said. Cenescar died from his injuries. He was 28.

“Jimmy passed doing what he loved,” his brother, Joel Cenescar, said during the funeral . “His job was what he did.”

Gov. Brian Kemp and numerous law enforcement officers joined grieving friends and loved ones at the February service at Mount Paran Church in Atlanta. Cenescar is survived by his fiancée, parents, a sister and four brothers.

“We consider this a deep loss for our entire state,” Kemp said, “and we are grieving with you.”

A native of Haiti, Cenescar moved with his family to the U.S. as a 4-year-old and was raised in Orlando, Florida, before they settled in Paulding County.

Cenescar was working for the Atlanta Police Department in 2021 when a man flagged him down during one overnight shift. A red BMW had plunged off a northwest Atlanta bridge, and the driver was still inside as the car dangled over a segment of the Norfolk Southern-Inman rail yard.

After getting permission from a supervisor, Cenescar pushed through a locked gate with his patrol vehicle so he could rescue the driver.

“It was a very chaotic scene. I just knew I had to get everything under control,” Cenescar said at the time. “My training kicked in and I just took action.”

He joined the Georgia State Patrol after three years with Atlanta police.

Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC

The person who led the investigation into the crash that killed Cenescar was Trooper First Class Chase Redner. That investigation would be one of his last. Less than three weeks later, Redner was killed when he was hit by a vehicle as he investigated a deadly crash. He was 31.

It had been nearly 47 years since the Georgia State Patrol lost two troopers within the same year.

In May, Cenescar’s family was presented with his diploma during the Georgia Gwinnett College graduation ceremony. He was studying criminal justice and planned to pursue leadership roles, his obituary states.

Cenescar was the fifth officer to die in the line of duty across the country in 2024, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page , which tracks law enforcement deaths. As of Wednesday, 88 officers have died in the line of duty.

In addition to Cenescar and Redner, two other Georgia officers have died in the line of duty this year.

On Jan. 4, Deputy Eric Minix with the Coweta County Sheriff’s Office died after being hit by an Alabama police officer’s patrol car as he stepped out of his own vehicle at the end of a chase, according to investigators. He was 31.

A Crawford County sheriff’s deputy died Feb. 6 after being involved in a two-vehicle wreck while on duty, investigators said. Timothy Tavarus Rivers, 40, was responding to assist another officer around 10 p.m. when his patrol vehicle crossed into the opposite travel lane about 20 miles southwest of Macon, according to the Georgia State Patrol.

Get all the news about the Atlanta Braves delivered each morning. Sign up for Braves Report.