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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says an illegal immigrant who was previously deported allegedly killed a 61-year-old man in September.
The DHS said Wilmer Fuentes Mejia allegedly killed 61-year-old Richard Ferguson Jr. in a hit-and-run crash in Durham, North Carolina, on Sept. 13. ICE lodged an immigration detainer for Mejia.
The agency said Mejia first entered the U.S. illegally in 2015 and was released into the country during the Obama administration.
He was ordered to be removed by an immigration judge in December 2019 and was removed by ICE in 2020 during the first Trump administration, but illegally returned at a later date, officials said. Mejia is from Guatemala.
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Police say Wilmer Fuentes Mejia allegedly killed a 61-year-old man in a hit-and-run crash. (DHS)
Mejia has a criminal history that includes prior arrests for assault and driving under the influence.
“Wilmer Fuentes Mejia is a criminal illegal alien from Guatemala who has a history of driving while intoxicated and was previously deported by ICE in 2020. A local DA allowed him to walk free after multiple DUIs only to then cause this fatal hit-and-run that killed an innocent 61-year-old man in North Carolina,” said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “Richard Ferguson Jr. will get justice. ICE lodged a detainer for this criminal to ensure this menace and public safety threat isn’t released back onto America’s streets.”
According to WRAL, Ferguson Jr. was killed after Mejia allegedly drove off the road and hit two signs before hitting the 61-year-old.
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Richard Ferguson Jr. was killed in a hit-and-run crash. (DHS)
The victim’s brother, Reginald Ferguson, said his late relative helped him through a drug addiction.
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Wilmer Fuentes Mejia caused the fatal crash in Durham, North Carolina. (Cornell Watson for The Washington Post via Getty Images)
“There was a time twenty some-odd years ago where I was going through some rough things, a drug addiction, and my brother helped see me through that,” Ferguson said. “Never once gave up on me, one time…He didn’t deserve to get killed and leave this earth.”
At the time of the September incident, Mejia had an arrest warrant for a 2020 DWI when he didn’t show up to court, according to the report.