Thread: MN: IA bus driver arrested in Minnesota school tragedy

Illegal Immigrant Charged with Homicide in Fatal Minnesota School Bus Crash
Alianiss Morales charged 4 counts of homicide in Minn. bus crash

Last Edited: Friday, 22 Feb 2008, 2:02 PM CST
Created: Tuesday, 19 Feb 2008, 4:24 PM CST

Alianiss Nunez Morales is wheeled into court to face criminal charges.
MN Bus Crash

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota woman driving the van in Tuesday’s fatal bus crash, was charged Friday with four counts of criminal vehicular homicide.

Alianiss Nunez Morales, 23, of Minneota, Minn., was driving a van that ran a stop sign before hitting a bus carrying 28 students from Lakeview School. The accident happened near the southwestern Minnesota town of Cottonwood.

Lyon County Attorney Richard Maes said Morales was also charged with a stop sign violation and for driving without a valid license.

Police said Morales is not the woman's real name. Minnesota State Patrol spokesman Mark Peterson said authorities had asked immigration officials to help them identify the woman in custody.

The criminal vehicular homicide charges are felonies, each punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.

IS 'MORALES' AN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT?

On Thursday, multiple sources told FOX 9 Morales is in the country illegally.

On Friday, Claude Arnold, ICE special agent in charge of investigations, said his agency believes Morales is an illegal immigrant. ICE has filed paperwork to detain her for deportation proceedings after the criminal case is resolved.

"The only name we have for her is the name she gave us when she was booked," Arnold said, adding that the woman told authorities she was from Mexico.

Arnold said ICE would continue to investigate her identity.

"We're going to do everything in our power and authority to ensure justice is served in this case," he said.

Morales does not have a Minnesota driver's license, and "she doesn't have a (driver's license) anywhere that we're aware of," said Lt. Mark Peterson of the Minnesota State Patrol.

www.myfoxtwincities.com

My husband just called Mike Easley's office (governor of NC) to bring this case to their attention and demanded to know what is being done in NC to crack down on illegals and they hung up on him. That is about the 3rd or fourth time that has happened. That will not prevent us from calling again and again though!

I see jail time + deportation in her future... which is just fine by me.

Lynne, fax the story over to their offices...someone will see it.

I'm sure if she had had a license she would have been a safer driver...right

Thanks for the suggestion, legalatina. We just faxed them the story and called McCain's office and the White House to say that 4 kids would be alive if our borders were secure. This is just so terribly sad and it needs to stop

IF you want your blood presure to go up go to site and read Van driver's statement. She blames the bus..........

http://www.startribune.com/local/15877297.html

Woman charged in bus crash, here illegally using alias
By CHAO XIONG, Star Tribune
Last update: February 22, 2008 - 3:46 PM

Woman who gave her name as Alianiss Nunez Morales
.
· Document: Charging document
· Document: Van driver's statement PLEASE READ
· Document: Bus driver's statement

COTTONWOOD, MINN. -- The van driver involved in the school bus crash in southwestern Minnesota that killed four students was charged today, and federal authorities say she is using an alias and in the United States illegally.
The woman, who is using the name Alianiss Nunez Morales, is charged with four counts of criminal-vehicular homicide, running a stop sign and driving without a license at the time of the crash Tuesday afternoon near Cottonwood.
Lyon County Attorney Richard Maes confirmed today that the woman ran a stop sign when she hit the bus, which then fell onto a pickup truck. The truck driver, James Hancock, of Marshall, told the Star Tribune that the van ignored the stop sign.
The woman appeared in District Court this morning in a wheelchair with one leg in a cast or bandage. Through an interpreter, she told the court that her name is Alianiss Morales, that she has been working in a Cottonwood cabinet shop for about a month and was living with her boyfriend in a Minneota, Minn., trailer but they broke up on the day of the crash.
Maes asked the judge to hold the woman without bail, citing her questionable identity. But the judge said that it would be wrong because none of the charges involve allegations of using false identification. However, the defendant's attorney, Manuel P. Guerrero, of St. Paul, protested that the bail set -- $400,000 without conditions or $200,000 with an assortment of conditions -- was akin to denying her bail because of her financial situation.
Her next court appearance is set for April 21.
"She's grief-stricken about the accident," Guerrero said of his client. "She's hurting about what happened to the kids."
Federal immigration investigator Claude Arnold said this morning that Morales is not the woman's name, and she is not revealing her real name. He added that she is in this country illegally, probably from Mexico.
Federal immigration spokesman Tim Counts said that the woman has been of "minimal helpfulness" to investigators, but "we will get to the bottom of matters."Maes told the judge that ICE officials had located an Alianiss Nunez Morales in Puerto Rico and investigators showed pictures to that woman's grandparents of the woman in the Lyon County jail. They said the woman in jail was not their granddaughter, Maes added, which became the agency's reason for being concerned about the jailed woman's identity.
According to the criminal complaint, bus driver Dennis Devereaux said the van "went airborne" as it crossed the railroad tracks on County Road 24 right before the intersection with Hwy. 23 and he didn't have time to hit the brakes.
Another witness, Larry Moat, told police he was driving behind the school bus and saw the van "moving at a fairly good speed" before it ran the stop sign and hit the bus in front of the rear wheels.
According to the complaint, the van driver told police in the hospital she stopped and the bus hit her. She said she'd never been at the intersection before but had worked in Cottonwood for about a month. She told police she couldn't remember her address but lived in a trailer with her boyfriend in Minneota. She told police she did not have a driver's license.
Immigration officials also added that they are unsure whether she is the person, as initially believed, who was arrested in 2006 for driving without a valid license.
According to state records, Morales has a Minnesota identification card but not a valid driver's license. She pleaded guilty in June 2006 to driving without a license and paid a $182 fine.
Lakeview School, where the students attended, will be closed Monday for the funerals of brothers Jesse Javens, 13, and Hunter Javens, 9, both of Cottonwood. Also killed were Reed Stevens, 12, of Marshall; and Emilee Olson, 9, of Cottonwood.
There were 28 students on the bus. In addition to Hancock, eight children remained hospitalized Thursday in Sioux Falls, S.D., Marshall and Rochester.
Chao Xiong • 612-270-4708

I imagine that Morales won't reveal her real name or be too forthcoming because there's probably more to the story....I hope ICE investigates her "boyfriend" and any other "relatives" she may have in the area....perhaps she was involved in more than just a "cabinet factory" job.....

...and is ICE going to investigate her employer? Will the state of Minnesota investigate for purposes of any violations of employment and work related laws..how about unpaid taxes or worker's comp insurance? Any arrest of an illegal alien should result in a COMPREHENSIVE STATE AND FEDERAL INVESIGATION. All agencies that would have an interest should be notified...it should be coordinated.

John Gibson just had a spirited debate with an OBL on his show about the virtual fence.

Right after that they had this story about the ILLEGAL Alien who killed them. ICE has a detainer on her.



John Gibson was HOT.

From: Minnesotans Seeking Immigration Reform
> Nationwide and
> Statewide Action Alert - School Bus Tradegy in
> Cottonwood
>
>
> Dear Members
>
> First our prayers are with the parents, friends,
> family and community of Cottonwood, Mn in the lose
> of four young lives on Tuesday Feb. 19th, 2008 at
> the hands of an
> illegal alien. STUDENTS KILLED IN CRASH ARE:
> Hunter Javens, 9, Cottonwood.
>
> Jesse Javens, 13, Cottonwood (Hunter & Jesse were
> brothers)
>
> Emilee Olson, 9, Cottonwood
>
> Reed Stevens, 12, Marshall.
>
>
> We are in no way are speaking for the families of
> those involved -
> We are speaking for OUR FAMILIES.
> This tragedy did NOT need to take place. If our
> law were enforced these children may very well be
> alive today!!!! What is it going to take to end the
> insanity and restore order?
> What is it going to take for our federal and state
> ELECTED officials to stop this?
> Who will be next?
>
> Please see action alert requests below:
> MINNSIR is currently considering future activities
> addressing this tragedy - and will keep
> you updated. HOWEVER - until those decisions are
> made, we are asking all members to forward this
> Action Alert on to your address book, to national
> organizations such as NumbersUSA, Grassfire, ALIPAC,
> You Don't Speak For Me, American Freedom Riders,
> FIRE Coalition etc. and to State Chapters from coast
> to coast. - Thank you in advance!
> In addition please see the contact information of
> those below that you can contact yourself and
> questions that they should answer.
> Contact them - We Must Not Allow This Tragedy To
> Go Unanswered!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>
> On Tuesday afternoon in a rural area of southern
> Minnesota - a school bus following its daily
> routine was taking students home when it was
> broadsided by a van causing it to flip on its side
> onto another vehicle. Four young lives ranging from
> 9 - 13 years of age were lost.
> Two students were from one family. This happened
> at an T intersection in clear conditions, with the
> van having a stop sign. That driver was - Alianiss
> Morales, 23 of Minneota.
> news links below
>
> Here's what we know:
> +Alianiss Morales - is an illegal alien, age 23.
> +Morales ability to speak or understand English is
> in question.
> +Morales is not her real name - it is an alias
> given to police at the scene of the accident.
> +Morales - had no drivers license and no
> insurance,
> +Toxicology reports of the drivers were performed
> with two of the three cleared - Morales's report
> however is not being released.
> +She works at the Jenny-O plant in Montevideo
> +According to state records cited by the media,
> Morales has a MN identification card.
> +Morales plead guilty in 2006 to driving without a
> license & paid a $182 - previous conviction. In this
> incident it was reported by a Montevideo resident,
> that she was reading her paper when she heard
> graveling flying. She watch from her window as a car
> hit the curb, drove up her lawn and stop 12ft from
> the house. When Morales attempted to shift the
> automatic - she couldn't. The witness continued to
> state that " She apparently didn't know how to
> drive the car," She continued.... "I had to get in
> and move it. She acted like she didn't know how to
> shift. "She got back in the car and drove off, and
> she was driving down the wrong side of the street at
> that time yet".Woman: Morales Didn't Know How to
> Drive
>
> +She has been taken into custody on suspicion of
> criminal vehicular operation Thursday afternoon.
> Authorities are considering formal charges. She is
> currently at the Lyons County jail awaiting a
> hearing on Friday Feb 22nd. Story : Report:
> Morales an Illegal Alien
>
>
> HERE"S WHO TO CONTACT WITH QUESTIONS:
> 1. Governor Pawlenty at tim.pawlenty@state.mn.us
>
> Governor, A.) When are we going to stop the
> insanity - your proposals on illegal immigration
> were are start but we need to end sanctuary policy
> and enforce our laws! B.) please investigate and
> enlighten me on which agency provided Morales with a
> State ID Card.
> Governor - you stated in was a sad night in
> Minnesota - I agree - what are we going to do to
> ensure we do not experience more - how can we help?
>
> 2. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement
> (Special Agent in Charge) SAC Minneapolis/St.
> Paul
> 2901 Metro Drive, Suite 100
> Bloomington, MN 55425
> Main (952) 853-2940
> Or 1-866-DHS-2ICE / 1-866-347-2423
>
> ICE, A.) Why are these individuals allowed to
> continue to commit crimes above and beyond that of
> illegal entry. When is ICE in Minnesota going to
> pick up the pace and deport illegal aliens
> committing crimes? B.) Did Lyon County Law
> Enforcement contact you in 2006?
> If they did - why was she not deported? If not -
> what do you propose to do about this?
>
> 3. Jenno-O Foods Contact Us
> Jennie-O Turkey Store 901 N. 24th
> Street Montevideo, MN 56265
> 320-269-9871
> Jenno Foods - A.) Do you screen your employees and
> if so - why did you not know that this individual
> was an illegal alien? B.) Tell me - DO YOU FEEL ANY
> RESPONSIBILITY for the four innocent lives lost for
> cheap labor? for not screening your employees
> better?
>
>
> 4. Your Elected Officials at Members of the
> Minnesota House of Representatives;
> Minnesota Senate Members - Alphabetical List
> DEMAND ACTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>
>
> Report: Morales an Illegal Alien An unfolding
> investigation has found 23-year-old Alainiss Morales
> is an illegal alien. The name she gave to police is
> an alias. FOX 9's Beth McDonough, reporting.
>
>
http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/myfox/pa ... Id=5846242
>
>