Wreck suspect here illegally, officials say (killed family of three)
By MIKE GLENN Houston Chronicle - August 2007
A man accused of causing a fiery wreck that killed a family of three on the East Freeway is in the country illegally, authorities said. Juan Felix Salinas, 42, voluntarily returned to his home in Nuevo Leon, Mexico, two years ago, officials said. But he returned to the U.S., eventually making his way back to the Houston area.
Salinas remained in police custody Monday, charged with three counts of intoxication manslaughter in the deaths of Tenisha Williams, 26; her husband, S.J. Williams; and her son, Xavier Brown, 2. His bail has been set at $90,000 — $30,000 for each death.
Houston police said Salinas was speeding and rapidly changing lanes about 8:30 p.m. Saturday when he rear-ended a Toyota Corolla in the 8700 block of Interstate 10. The Toyota caught fire and eventually was engulfed in flames. The family was pronounced dead at the scene. Salinas, who suffered minor injuries in the wreck, had a blood-alcohol level of .24 — three times the .08 legal limit for intoxication in Texas.
When the van slammed into the Toyota, Salinas had been free on bond from a March 31 family violence incident in Jacinto City. The case remains open, authorities said.
On Saturday, bystanders struggled to save the young family. Some used hand- held fire extinguishers to hold back the flames while others attempted to pry open the doors. Felinda Williams said she was grateful to everyone who tried to save her daughter, grandson and son-in-law. "At least somebody cared enough," a grieving Williams said Monday. "They put themselves in danger trying to help them." Williams said she will closely follow the case against Salinas as it progresses. "When he's in court, I'm going to be in court," she said. "He tore a whole family apart."
Best friends killed in crash in Va. Beach
11:18 PM EDT on Monday, April 2, 2007
A man charged with killing two best friends in a Friday night crash admitted in a Va. Beach court Monday he's in the country illegally. Alfredo Ramos, 22, is charged with two counts of aggravated involuntary manslaughter. 13News was in court where we learned Ramos doesn't speak English and so used an interpreter.
Police said Ramos was speeding westbound on Virginia Beach Boulevard when he slammed into the rear of a car stopped at the red light at Kings Grant Road.
Allison Kunhardt, 17, and Tessa Tranchant, 16, were pinned in Kunhardt's Plymouth Duster in the 10:35 p.m. collision. Emergency personnel pulled them out of the car and rushed them to the hospital, where they later died.
Police told 13News Kunhardt was a student First Colonial High School and Tranchant was a student at Kellam High School.
"I just separated from the military. I’ve just been home two weeks. I just wanted to spend time with my family," said Dylan Tranchant, Tessa Trenchant’s brother. Dylan Tranchant just got home from the war in Iraq, and had to identify his sister’s body over the weekend.
Dozens of relatives and friends gathered Sunday to console each other and to remember the girls who were inseparably close friends. The girls became close friends when Tessa's mother started dating Allison's father. "They were definitely inseparable," said Allison's father, David Kunhardt. "I've never seen a closer friendship. They would finish each other's sentences."
Police said they believe Ramos had been drinking before the crash. (Ramos had already been convicted of DUI, plus 3 other public intoxication arrests, but identity theft, driving without a license, etc.)
Police also said additional charges may be filed against Ramos, who lives in the 100 block of Trace Court. Commonwealth's Attorney Harvey Bryant says it's not unusual for police to know someone's in the country illegally and not send them back. He says it requires three DUI's before immigration officials are notified.
Allison Kunhardt's father thinks that needs to change. "Illegal means illegal. It makes no sense, you get three DUI's before you're deported. It's not baseball, three strikes you're out. You're dealing with people's lives," said David Kunhardt.
Roberto Martinez Ruiz: Illegal alien hit and run killer.
Three weeks before Kailya Goodman turned 10, her father was killed when an illegal immigrant plowed a sport utility vehicle into his motorcycle on a Thornton street on July 1, 2004. Justin Goodman of Denver bled to death on the side of the road. He was 31. The man convicted of the hit-and-run that killed Kailya's father was Roberto Martinez-Ruiz, who had come to Colorado illegally from Mexico. He had a record of arrests in Colorado on charges of drunken driving, hit-and-run and other misdemeanors that spanned almost a decade, court records show. Not once was his name turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE officials told a TV reporter — not until the accident that killed Goodman. "We have that level of criminal right in our hands, and we're just letting them go," said Carol Vizzi, Justin Goodman's mother.