Thread: Charges dropped against Mexican with dead daughter

http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/120020.php

Border crosser's journey to U.S. ends with pain, grief
The ASSOCIATED press
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 03.14.2006
YUMA - Juan Cruz-Torralva crossed the Arizona-Mexico desert with his daughter last week because he wanted a better life for her.
But his daughter, 12-year-old Lourdes Cruz-Morales, will return to Mexico in a casket.
Near the last leg of their three-day journey, a U.S. Border Patrol agent ran over Cruz-Torralva and his daughter with his truck near Dateland, Ariz.
The agent had spotted a dozen immigrants illegally crossing the desert and was following them in the truck, according to a report by the Yuma County Attorney's Office.
When the agent got out of the truck, he heard moaning and discovered that he had run over Cruz-Torralva and his daughter. At no time did he see the two, according to the report.
Yuma County Sheriff's detectives ruled the incident an accident.
But shortly after his daughter's death, sheriff's deputies arrested Cruz-Torralva on charges of endangerment.
The sheriff's office argued that by bringing his daughter with him through the desert, Cruz-Torralva had placed her within "risk of imminent death" and eventually caused her death.
He was placed in the Yuma County Jail on March 8.
Cruz-Torralva, 28, spoke to The Associated Press through a glass partition in the jail Monday, shortly after the county attorney's office said it wouldn't prosecute the case. He was released later that day and turned over to the Border Patrol to be sent back to Mexico.
"It is not enough to disapprove of the individual's actions," according to a report from the prosecutor's office. "There must be facts that have a reasonable likelihood of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that an individual has fulfilled all the elements of a particular crime. No such facts exist in this case."
Cruz-Torralva, a farm worker from Oaxaca, Mexico, said he doesn't understand why he was in jail.
"They said it's my fault for bringing her here, that it's my fault my daughter died. But I wasn't driving the truck," said Cruz-Torralva, who speaks an indigenous language and only limited Spanish.
Cruz-Torralva cried often during the interview.
His back is broken and he can barely walk, his parents in Mexico are ill and don't have jobs.
"I just wanted her to get a good education," said Cruz-Torralva, explaining why he brought her to the United States.
He had planned to take her to Oxnard, Calif., where his wife was living with the couple's 2-month-old son. He wanted to enroll his daughter in school and work in the strawberry fields.
"I was looking for a better life," he said. "I needed money to send to my family."
The Mexican consul general in Yuma visited Cruz-Torralva on Monday afternoon to tell him his case wasn't going to be prosecuted and would be returned to Mexico.
But with all that has happened to him and the limited communication abilities, Consul General Hugo Rene Oliva Romero said Cruz-Torralva was still very confused.
"He doesn't understand what happened," Romero said outside the jail Monday. "He's very concerned about the body of his daughter."
It is not likely Cruz-Torralva will be able to travel with his daughter's body to Oaxaca, but Romero said he wants to ensure Cruz-Torralva is treated fairly, gets medical attention for his injuries and is returned safely.
"This is the most extreme case I've seen," Romero said. "The first moment we knew about his situation, we went to talk to him and support him. He needs a lot of help."
Romero said he was "very surprised" Cruz-Torralva was arrested at all and just hopes the man can begin healing, both emotionally and physically.
Cruz-Torralva's lawyer, C. Candy Camarena, is working with the consulate on the case, Romero said.
Richard Hays, a spokesman with the Border Patrol, declined to comment on the case, saying an internal investigation was still ongoing.
Cruz-Torralva called his wife Saturday to tell her what happened and she decided to return to Mexico to be with family. Cruz-Torralva said that's all he wants to do.
"My daughter is dead, and my mom and dad are sick," he said. "I've been in jail for a week, I don't have any money, and I'm in pain."
"I just want to leave this place and never come back," he added, wiping tears from his eyes. "Never."

If an American citizen placed his own child in the way of danger as this guy did, the legal system would throw charges of endangerment against him that would stick, and rightfully so. This individual is likely being cut loose because the local prosecutor and the Border Patrol don't want another international incident. The interference of the local Mexican Consulate assured that result. So the taxpayers of Yuma and Arizona will are stuck with this guys medical bills and justice once again is not served.