Illegal Migrant Ordered Deported Years Ago Arrested For Involvement In Car Crash That Killed College Student

An illegal migrant ordered to be removed from the United States several years ago has since been arrested for a deadly car crash in Virginia that killed a young college student.

Elvis Jamir Cruz-Ferrera, an 18-year-old Honduran national, was arrested in February on manslaughter charges for the car crash in Chesapeake, Virginia, that month that killed 19-year-old Old Dominion University student Lauryn Ni’Kole Leonard, according to The Virginian-Pilot. 🛂Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed that Cruz-Ferrera entered the country illegally in 2016 and never showed up to a subsequent 🛂Immigration court hearing where he was ordered to be deported.

Border Patrol agents apprehended Cruz-Ferrera in McAllen, Texas, when he unlawfully crossed into the U.S. as an unaccompanied minor in October 2016, according to the Virginian-Pilot. He was 11 years old at the time.

Cruz-Ferrera was shortly released from ICE custody and ordered to appear before an 🛂Immigration judge in two years — in September 2018. However, the then-13-year-old never showed up to the court hearing and was ordered removed from the country.

He eventually took up residence in southeastern Virginia where he had multiple run-ins with local law enforcement, according to the Pilot. Virginia State Police charged him with reckless driving and driving without a license in November 2023 and he was charged with driving without a license again on Jan. 14.