The suspect in a deadly DUI hit-and-run that killed a 22-year-old in New Mexico entered the U.S. illegally, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed.
ICE confirmed to Fox News that 21-year-old Jesus Sandoval-Martinez was arrested early Monday morning and charged with two counts of vehicular homicide, reckless driving and leaving an accident resulting in great bodily harm or death.
Authorities allege Sandoval-Martinez was drunk when his Dodge pickup truck collided with a Tesla and a Toyota Corolla at an intersection in Albuquerque overnight Monday.
Following the fatal crash, the 21-year-old migrant allegedly fled on foot, and witnesses said he was visibly impaired and slurring his words.
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Authorities charged Jesus Sandoval-Martinez with vehicular homicide (DWI), leaving the scene of an accident, failure to obey traffic control devices and reckless driving. He was arrested July 1. (ICE)
Witnesses and bystanders followed him to a Walgreens and held him there until officers arrived.
Law enforcement confirmed the migrant ran a red light that resulted in the death of the driver of the Tesla, identified as 22-year-old Tiger Gutierrez.
On July 1, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations officers filed an immigration detainer against Jesus Sandoval-Martinez, 21, of Mexico. (ICE)
Authorities said Gutierrez died, and a passenger was hospitalized.
The driver of the Toyota was treated for minor injuries, ICE said.
Following Sandoval-Martinez’s arrest, ICE filed an immigration detainer against him after establishing probable cause to remove him from the U.S.
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ICE said it had no previous encounters with the migrant prior to the deadly crash.
Fox News confirmed with a source that he is a Mexican national with no Social Security number, and he did not have a valid driver’s license.
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol processed approximately 84,000 migrants who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border without authorization in June 2024.
Over 13,000 “criminal noncitizens” have attempted to enter the U.S. and been apprehended by Border Patrol agents in fiscal year 2024, an increase from 4,269 in FY 2019.
Crimes allegedly committed by illegal migrants are on the rise.
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The cases include the arrest of Victor Antonio Martinez Hernandez, a 23-year-old illegal El Salvadorian migrant accused of raping and killing Maryland mother Rachel Morin.
In another case, Johan Jose Martinez-Rangel, 22, and Franklin Jose Peña Ramos, 26, Venezuelan migrants, are accused in the killing of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray in Houston.
Get the latest updates on the ongoing border crisis from the Fox News Digital immigration hub.
Source: www.foxnews.com