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An illegal immigrant previously charged with DUIs and ordered deported in 2023 is the main suspect in a head-on collision that killed an 8-year-old California girl over the weekend, authorities said.
Brayan Josue Alva-Rodriguez, 25, a Guatemalan citizen, is being investigated in connection with the deadly collision in the San Diego County community of Julian on Sunday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said.
The girl and several other people were injured on a rural road shortly after 3 p.m. on the two-lane county Highway S-2, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.
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A Guatemalan who was previously charged with two DUIs and ordered deported from the United States is suspected in the fiery collision death of an 8-year-old girl in California, federal authorities said. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
According to the California Highway Patrol, the driver of a 2005 Toyota Tacoma was heading north when he crossed the solid double-yellow line. The truck entered the southbound lane and crashed head-on into a Toyota Camry.
The Tacoma then struck a Ford F-350 pulling a utility trailer that was also traveling north, officials said.
The Tacoma eventually overturned and caught fire, the newspaper reported.
Fire crews were able to extricate one victim trapped in a vehicle and extinguish the blaze, Cal Fire spokesperson Capt. Mike Cornette told the paper. Two people in the Tacoma were able to exit the truck on their own, he said.
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Five patients were airlifted to hospitals by four helicopters, and three others were transported by ambulance, Cornette said.
Three children in the back of the Camry were taken to a children’s hospital. Two boys, ages 5 and 4, survived, but the girl succumbed to her injuries.
Alva-Rodriguez illegally entered the United States on Feb. 8, 2018, and was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents in Calexico, California. He was issued a notice to appear before an immigration judge and released, ICE said.
While in immigration proceedings, he was charged with two DUIs on Sept. 6, 2020, and April 7, 2021, according to the agency. On March 16, 2023, an immigration judge ordered him deported.
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However, Alva-Rodriguez failed to leave the U.S. as ordered, authorities said.
“Now an innocent life has been lost in a tragedy that could have been prevented,” ICE said in a statement.
ICE said an immigration detainer will be placed on him once he is formally charged. Fox News Digital has reached out to the California Highway Patrol.