Miami: Three Miami-Dade families are left devastated after the man charged with the deaths of their loved ones was unexpectedly deported, halting their pursuit of justice.
Tragedy on West Flagler
Paola Sabillon, her boyfriend Jason Meza, and his cousin Giselle Reyes tragically died in 2022 when Erwin Rommel Recinos Zuniga crashed into a gas station sign on West Flagler Street, Miami. Zuniga, who was driving at 126 mph and tested positive for THC, was charged with three counts of DUI manslaughter and three counts of reckless vehicular homicide. While the families awaited a trial that would bring some closure, they were left stunned after learning that Zuniga had been deported to Honduras last week, leaving them in anguish and disbelief.
Deportation Leaves Families Without Justice
Zuniga had been on house arrest while awaiting trial, much to the frustration of the victims’ families who felt he should have been held in custody. Two years after the crash, the families expected to attend a court hearing to set a trial date but instead learned that Zuniga had violated the terms of his house arrest and was subsequently detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for his immigration status.
Miriam Castillo, Sabillon’s sister, expressed her devastation upon learning that Zuniga was deported before facing trial. “He gets deported. He’s living. He’s sleeping. He is seeing his family. My sister stopped growing at 19 years old,” Castillo said, highlighting the deep pain the families feel knowing Zuniga will not face immediate accountability for the crash that took three young lives. ICE confirmed that Zuniga, an unlawfully present Honduran national, was removed from the U.S. on September 6. The deportation was carried out based on a final order signed by an immigration judge in August.
Government Failures and Unanswered Questions
The deportation took everyone by surprise, including prosecutors who were unaware that Zuniga would be removed from the country. Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle criticized the lack of communication from the authorities overseeing Zuniga’s house arrest. She explained that if the court and the State Attorney’s Office had been notified, the deportation might have been prevented.
“This deportation, which robbed the victims’ families of justice, could have been avoided,” Fernandez Rundle stated. “The families of the young victims and the people of Miami-Dade County understandably feel cheated by this type of governmental failure.” The Miami-Dade Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the agency responsible for the house arrest program, has not provided any comments on the situation. Similarly, the Miami-Dade Public Defender’s Office declined to comment.
Hope for Justice
Though Zuniga has been deported, state attorneys are working with federal authorities to locate him and bring him back to Miami to stand trial. The families, still reeling from the deportation, now wait for answers and hope that the man responsible for their loved ones’ deaths will eventually face justice. For these families, the road to closure remains uncertain. “I have lost the little bit of faith in the justice system,” said Jailene Najera, Sabillon’s sister, echoing the despair felt by all the victims’ families.
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