Death by illegal alien…Think illegal immigration is a victimless crime?…Then read this dad's words
March 24, 8:37 PM
Dave Gibson
3 comments



Allison Kuhnhardt and Tessa Tranchant, killed by illegal alien
Courtesy Tranchant family

Next week is the third anniversary of the tragic deaths of two beautiful Virginia Beach, Va. High school students. Their lives were over in an instant, and their families were forever changed, all because our federal, state, and local governments refused to take seriously, the ongoing invasion of this country.

On March 30, 2007, in Virginia Beach, Mexican national, Alfredo Ramos slammed into the rear of a vehicle in which Allison Kuhnhardt, 17, and Tessa Tranchant, 16, were stopped, while waiting at a red light. Ramos, 22, was traveling at a high rate of speed and was drunk at the time. He actually had nearly a .24 blood-alcohol level and could barely see the police officers in front of him. The two high school students had to be cut from their crumpled car and both later died after being taken to the hospital. Ramos suffered only a busted lip.

Though an illegal alien, Alfredo Ramos had been living in Virginia Beach for quite a while and worked at local a Mexican restaurant known as Mi Casita. Ramos had been previously convicted of three separate charges of public intoxication, identity theft, and even a DUI, but continued to live in the area. He speaks only Spanish and required an interpreter at all of his court proceedings.

When he was arrested, he was carrying a fake drivers’ license and a Mexican ID card he purchased from a company in Florida.

While Ramos had already been convicted of a DUI, Virginia Beach policy dictated that an illegal alien be convicted of three DUI's before police would report them to federal immigration authorities. Virginia Beach police have since taken a more active role in determining the citizenship of those they arrest.

Ramos was eventually sentenced to 24 years in prison for two counts of aggravated manslaughter. He will be deported upon completion of his sentence.

Tessa Tranchant's brother, Dylan had only been home from Iraq for two weeks, when his sister was killed. Dylan was tasked with identifying his little sister's body. The case gained national fame thanks to the reporting of Fox News' Bill O'Reilly.

In 2008, I interviewed Ray Tranchant, Tessa’s dad. What follows is the text of that interview:

1) How are you and your family coping with this terrible loss?

It is the biggest challenge of my life. I have been through some hard
but fun times being a retired Naval officer, Annapolis graduate,
Aircraft Carrier aviator, public school teacher, and now College
administrator. The challenges these career paths have taken me pale in
comparison to losing a little girl.

If you have suffered a loss of someone close to you that is totally
unexpected (death sometimes is more predictable with serious illnesses,
age, or severe accidents), no matter what the reason, it is at first
almost surreal.

My ex-wife Colette, Kelsey,15 and Dylan, 25 were swept with total
emotion and grief immediately and I chose to compartmentalize and
suppress my grief so that the task at hand (funeral arrangements,
family, and my job) were taken care of. I suffer still, but need help
from friends and God to cope. Colette still understandably breaks down
a lot and Kelsey is angry about many things in life that I don’t think
would have bothered her if her sister were still alive. Dylan moved
away from the area and chose to go to a College in Washington D.C. about
200 miles from Virginia Beach. He is an artist and will undoubtedly
express himself with music and drawings. All of us are undergoing
Therapy and need various medications.

2) What kind of kid was Tessa?

Tessa was a free spirit, and had many gifts, like emotional
intelligence. She was very attractive and was everyone’s friend (a
social animal that got up at 4:00am in the morning to get ready for High
School), a gifted Irish step dancer, and a good surfer, had a great
voice, and tickled me with her laugh. She loved comedies; anything with
Ben Stiller, Will Farrell, Dave Chappell, Mike Myers, and Borat.

When she smiled, my heart always skipped a beat. She was truly loved by
everyone who spent any time with her.

She is buried next to her friend Ali Kunhardt in Princess Anne Memorial
Park, next to a statue of an angel. I visit her every Friday, the night
she was killed.

The crash site on Virginia Beach BLVD. continues to be a memorial by
the community, it always has flowers, balloons, notes and pictures, and
has for the past 1.5 years.

3) Are you angry with the local city governments for their role in
allowing Ramos to stay in this country?

I am not angry but very disappointed that Ramos was not deported after
two previous offenses. He admitted he was an illegal immigrant, admitted
that he purchased a fake driver’s license from Florida, and nearly
killed a Chesapeake, Virginia police officer with a head-on collision the
second time he was arrested. Judge Whitehurst from Chesapeake gave him a
fine and he walked. His roommate, a woman with a small baby who shared
an apartment out of convenience with Ramos, said essentially that Ramos
was not worried or fazed with the Whitehurst hearing and continued to
come home drunk every night. Apparently he wasn’t worried about being
deported or even the need to get sober, because he continued the same
behavior, which ultimately killed Tessa and Ali.

I am disappointed at the way the municipalities, the Commonwealth, and
the Federal Government interact with immigration issues. Enforcement
varies from city to city and state to state, and all of the states that
interact with ICE claim that they get no support once ICE is notified.
Of course ICE want to do their job, but they are greatly outnumbered
and don’t have the funds to integrate criminal databases to catch
criminal illegal offenders. Some of the illegals have been quoted as
saying, after receiving jail time and even deportation: “don’t
worry. I’ll be back!â€