Suspect in crash that killed 2 had alcohol-related convictions (Illegal Mexican )

How open borders turn Americans into roadkill

A buddy of mine is in the hospital right now with a broken leg and other injuries after being T-boned by a stop sign runner. You guessed, an illegal alien with an arrest record and no insurance.

Where is the justice for him!!! There is no justice!!!

“He’s not a juvenile. Is it common in Virginia for these types of cases to be handled by the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Courts?”

The victims were juveniles so it can start out in J&D. It’ll move on, though.

The victims were juveniles so it can start out in J&D. It'll move on, though.

Thanks, I couldn't figure out what was going on.

First Colonial Principal Dale Holt said the school has canceled plans to host the “Every 15 Minutes” program on Wednesday and Thursday. The program raises awareness of drunk driving by removing a student from class every 15 minutes as if they had been killed.

“Our kids are living ‘Every 15 Minutes’ as we speak,” Holt said Monday.

Maybe the school could have an ‘Every xx Minutes” program - pull the child of an illegal out of class every xx minutes where xx=average number of minutes between the deaths of Americans at the hands of illegals. Think the school would go for that?

A couple of follow up articles:After previous crimes, why wasn’t illegal status detected?

By Gillian Gaynair & Jon Frank, The Virginian-Pilot
© April 4, 2007
Last updated: 11:32 PM

Alfredo Ramos – an illegal immigrant accused of killing two teens in a car crash Friday – had previous convictions in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake, but his crimes weren’t serious enough to lead to deportation. (let's wait until he kills someone, m'kay?)

Local judges do not routinely inquire about the immigration status of a person charged with misdemeanors, as Ramos had been, said John Gardner, a Virginia Beach immigration attorney.

“It’s not an immigration court,” he said.

Procedures among local police departments appear to vary in cases in which officers suspect someone is in the country illegally.

Ramos is charged with manslaughter in the deaths of Alison Kunhardt, 17, and Tessa Tranchant, 16. On Tuesday, he withdrew his request for a bond hearing. His attorney, Richard Clark, said Ramos’ next court appearance would likely be April 17.

An undocumented immigrant convicted of a felony would serve the imposed sentence in this country and then be deported, said Ernestine Fobbs, spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Washington.

The person would not serve additional time in Mexico for felony offenses in the United States, said Enrique Escorza, consul general for the Mexican Embassy in Washington.

“But we will be aware” of any crimes of which a person is convicted, Escorza said.

The 22-year-old Ramos was convicted earlier this year of driving under the influence in Chesapeake and public intoxication in Virginia Beach. Additional Chesapeake charges of driving without a license and without insurance were dropped.

Local police departments establish their own procedures on arrests for such offenses. In the two cities where Ramos had prior run-ins with the law, the protocols are different.

In Virginia Beach, police officers are not permitted to ask about a person’s birthplace or legal status if the person is charged with a misdemeanor such as public drunkenness, said police spokesman Jimmy Barnes.

“On a felony arrest, in the paperwork process, you’re asked what country you’re from,” Barnes said. “But on a misdemeanor summons for a DUI or public intoxication, those questions are not allowed to be asked because you’re getting into civil rights violations; just because your last name might be different than mine doesn’t mean I have the right to ask” about someone’s immigration status.

Meanwhile, the Chesapeake Police Department does not have a policy in place – although it’s working on one – regarding when it would “be appropriate to contact” immigration authorities, said police spokeswoman Christina Golden.

In general, if police have reasonable suspicion to believe a person is in the country illegally, she said, they may alert federal authorities.

“The majority of time, if it’s very minor, they won’t respond,” Golden said. “They just take the information we give them, and I’m not sure what they do with it afterward.”

Under state law, police may detain someone for 72 hours for being here unlawfully, but only if the person had been previously convicted of a felony and deported and then returned to the United States.

Golden said Ramos presented an international driver’s license to the Chesapeake officer who pulled him over for DUI. It was later found to be false, she said.(Of course it was false! They're lying, thieving bastards !) The car he was driving was legally registered in Virginia under his name, she said.

Given that Ramos’ car was registered, the officer figured he had proper documentation, Golden said.

The circumstances of Friday’s wreck have drawn widespread attention, including that of producers of Fox News’ “O’Reilly Factor,” who planned to air a segment on the case this evening.

Gardner, the immigration lawyer, said Tuesday that he wasn’t surprised Ramos’ immigration status apparently didn’t become an issue in his previous cases. State court judges, he said, do not have jurisdiction to make immigration decisions.

That needs to be determined when the defendant is arrested and goes before a magistrate, Gardner said. Police and the magistrate then would contact immigration officials if the defendant were determined to be in the United States unlawfully.

It then would become the responsibility of federal authorities to further investigate the person’s immigration status.

Reach Gillian Gaynair at (757) 222-3895 or gillian.gaynair@pilot online.com.

Reach Jon Frank at (757) 222-5122 or jon.frank@pilotonline.com.
Family, friends remember teens at vigil

By Jon Frank, The Virginian-Pilot
© April 4, 2007
Last updated: 12:21 AM

VIRGINIA BEACH — Beatles music filled the air Tuesday night at Mount Trashmore as approximately 300 people huddled together against a chilly spring wind to light candles and remember two teenage girls.

The deaths Friday of 17-year-old Alison Kunhardt and 16-year-old Tessa Tranchant continued to stun the crowd.

“My world has stopped completely,” said Kunhardt’s 22-year-old sister Ashley . “We are all in a daze.”

The girls died when a 1994 Plymouth driven by Kunhardt was slammed from behind by a 1998 Mitsubishi that police said was driven by Alfredo Ramos. The 22-year-old has been charged with manslaughter.

Both girls were wearing seat belts. The crash occurred at Kings Grant Road and Virginia Beach Boulevard. Police said that both alcohol and speed played a role in the wreck.

Ramos had a prior DUI conviction in Chesapeake and two other alcohol-related convictions.

“He should never have been here,” said John Warner, Kunhardt’s stepfather. Ramos has admitted he is an illegal immigrant.

Delores Rowe, Kunhardt’s great aunt and one of three relatives to address the crowd, said Kunhardt loved the Beatles and was reading a book by John Lennon shortly before her death.

“It made me laugh because I’m a Beatles fan,” she said. “That is my generation.”

Don Hedrick encouraged those in attendance to channel their anger by working to combat drunken driving.

“If you are mad about what happened to Ali and Tessa, stay mad,” Hedrick said.

Many of those in attendance were school mates of Kunhardt and Tranchant, who attended First Colonial and Kellam high schools respectively.

Jeremy Tenney, 17, who attended Kellam with Tranchant, said that the hallways of the school have been a sad and quiet place since the crash.

“You can’t cut a joke or smile,” Tenney said. “It’s been depressing.”

He called Tranchant “a beautiful girl” who would “always bring a smile to anyone’s face.”

David Kunhardt, Ali’s father, pledged to turn “an unbelievable tragedy that should never have occurred” into a cause celebre that will change the laws of the state.

He said he plans to promote an “Ali and Tessa” law that will address the problems of drunken driving and illegal immigration.
(Good luck mister, most politicians don't care!)

But first, he said, he has to recover from his loss.

“You have to grieve,” Kunhardt said.

“I’ll be grieving for a long, long, long time.”

Reach Jon Frank at (757) 222-5122 or jon.frank@pilotonline.com.

The circumstances of Friday’s wreck have drawn widespread attention, including that of producers of Fox News’ “O’Reilly Factor,” who planned to air a segment on the case this evening.

Go after them Bill !

He said he plans to promote an “Ali and Tessa” law that will address the problems of drunken driving and illegal immigration.
(Good luck mister, most politicians don't care!)

You're right, as usual, most politicians don't care but they're going to be hearing from a lot of pissed off people about this one. I don't know why but this story has really got me worked up. It's heart breaking and infuriating.

I agree with what you are saying, however, I wonder if a lack of a two-party system may have contributed to this incident. Local elections in VA are technically non-partisan. Meyera Oberndorf (VA Beach mayor, very unpopular) should have been gone years ago. She skates by with 35% of the vote because 2 or 3 anti-Oberndorf candidates split the GOP vote, and there are no runoffs. She and her city council have ran Va Beach into the ground (they almost lost NAS Oceana), and my family and I left because of the exploding drug gang problem that nothing was being done about.

Point taken, But my issue is the President and the Congress will never have to deal with the will of the people when it comes to this issue.

I wish we had five parties or maybe six. All elected knowing that they will be tossed the moment they turn their backs on the voters.

But that is only a dream.

At Ramos hearing, witnesses describe wreck that killed teens

Alfredo Ramos listens to court proceedings Tuesday through an interpreter and headphones. BILL TIERNAN PHOTOS | THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT

By DUANE BOURNE, The Virginian-Pilot
© June 27, 2007

VIRGINIA BEACH

In the deep of night, a black Mitsubishi sped toward the red light at Virginia Beach Boulevard and Kings Grant Road as other drivers sitting in traffic watched in horror.

The man behind the wheel swerved around one car, rocking the vehicle with the force of a tractor-trailer.

The driver, Alfredo Ramos, was drunk, more than three times the legal limit, a toxicologist testified Tuesday.

“Oh my God,” Cecilia Swanger recalled thinking as her car shook. “He is not going to slow down.”

Two high school students – Alison Kunhardt, 17, and Tessa Tranchant, 16 – also were waiting at the light. It turned green, but before their Plymouth Duster could accelerate, witnesses heard a loud pop, the sound of a tire blowout. Glass went everywhere. Then silence.

Witnesses shared their recollections publicly for the first time Tuesday at a preliminary hearing in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. Ramos did not speak, but his attorneys questioned the witnesses.

Ramos is accused of aggravated involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of the two girls on March 30.

Judge Ramona Taylor determined Tuesday that there was probable cause to charge Ramos, an illegal immigrant with a record of alcohol-related convictions. The case will be sent to a grand jury. If he is indicted on the charges, Ramos would then make a plea.

The two-hour hearing provided fresh details in the case and was the first time the parents of Alison and Tessa sat in the same room with the man accused of causing their daughters’ deaths.

The parents have filed wrongful death lawsuits. Colette Tranchant is seeking $30 million in damages from Ramos. David Kunhardt says the Mexican restaurant that served Ramos alcohol is just as liable and is suing for $10 million.

Ramos is escorted into the courtroom of Chief Judge Ramona D. Taylor in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court in Virginia Beach on Tuesday morning.

At the hearing, forensic toxicologist Joseph Saddy testified that Ramos registered a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.24 that night. The legal limit is 0.08.

Ramos, headed west in the 3100 block of Virginia Beach Blvd., was traveling at least 65 mph, Swanger testified.

In the driver’s seat of the white Duster, Alison waited at the red light, Tessa beside her.

“When the light switched, I heard and felt what seemed like an explosion,” said Wendy Bowhers, who was in the left turn lane. “I thought I was hit.”

The Duster suddenly appeared from behind Bowhers’ right shoulder. Shattered glass rained on the hood and roof of her car. The cars spun violently. Smoke wafted.

Then “it was eerie quiet,” Bowhers said.

A police officer pulled up before anyone had the chance to call 911. She ordered Ramos, who was hunched over in pain, to sit in the median.

Meanwhile, both girls, unconscious, remained trapped inside the crumbled steel, with Alison pinned behind the steering column. An officer detected a faint pulse on Tessa and wanted to get her out.

The doors were wedged shut.

Police officers struck the windshield with their batons and smashed the glass with their feet. Both girls were pulled from the car.

Alison was pronounced dead at the scene. Tessa was taken to the hospital, where she died.

A medical examiner testified Tuesday that he was surprised by the severity of the injuries: abrasions to the forehead and deeper bruises from the shoulder and lap belt.

He concluded the teens died of blunt force to the chest.

Duane Bourne, (757) 222-5150, duane.bourne@pilotonline.com

Update!

Ramos pleads guilty to manslaughter charges in Beach

By MARC DAVIS, The Virginian-Pilot
© August 13, 2007
Last updated: 6:30 PM

Alfredo Ramos. file photo

Previous: Ramos expresses remorse, speaks of his faith in God

VIRGINIA BEACH Wearing headphones and speaking through a translator, Alfredo Ramos admitted in court Monday to killing two teenage girls in a drunk-driving accident in March.

Ramos, a 22-year-old illegal immigrant, pleaded guilty in Circuit Court to two counts of aggravated involuntary manslaughter.

"I'm guilty, judge, of all the charges," Ramos told Judge Thomas S. Shadrick.

He faces up to 40 years in prison, then deportation. His sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 5. Ramos, who was born in Mexico, has lived in the United States for about seven years. He was working as a waiter at a Mexican restaurant in Virginia Beach at the time of the crash.

The victims – Alison Kunhardt, 17, and Tessa Tranchant, 16 – were killed March 30 when Ramos' car crashed into their car at Virginia Beach Boulevard and Kings Grant Road.

Police said Ramos was drunk and speeding. A lab test showed his blood-alcohol level was 0.24 – three times the legal limit for driving in Virginia. An eyewitness estimated Ramos' speed at 65 mph. The speed limit on that stretch of Virginia Beach Boulevard is 45 mph.

Initially, Ramos told police he had not been drinking. Then he admitted drinking two beers before the accident. Later, he admitted drinking four or five beers at a local restaurant immediately before the crash.

A small man with a buzz cut, Ramos appeared in court Monday wearing an orange jail jumpsuit and shackled at the wrists. He spoke quietly in Spanish in response to the judges' questions.

A woman seated beside him translated back and forth. Ramos answered about a dozen questions with the same two-word response: "Si, senor."

Asked if he had any questions for the court, Ramos replied, in Spanish, "Not for now." When the 10-minute hearing ended, deputies escorted Ramos back to the city jail.

Relatives of Kunhardt and Tranchant watched the hearing, sometimes teary-eyed, but declined to comment afterwards.

Commonwealth's Attorney Harvey Bryant attended the hearing, but did not participate. Later, he said Ramos will serve his prison sentence in Virginia before he is released to immigration authorities.

Ramos' status as an illegal immigrant became a national issue soon after his arrest. TV personality Bill O'Reilly repeatedly berated Virginia Beach, Mayor Meyera Oberndorf and Police Chief A.M. "Jake" Jacocks for not reporting Ramos to immigration authorities before the accident. Ramos had three prior criminal convictions involving alcohol.

He was convicted in February of DUI in Chesapeake and public intoxication in Virginia Beach. He also was convicted in 2006 in Chesapeake for public intoxication.

Before the Ramos case, Virginia Beach police did not ask suspects about their immigration status. In May, Jacocks announced a policy change. In the future, he said, Beach police would ask suspects from another country about their immigration status after they are arrested.

Marc Davis, (757) 222-5131, marc.davis@pilotonline

May he rot in Hades.

Thank you for the update.

Continued prayers for the families of those young women.