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  1. #1
    Senior Member Brian503a's Avatar
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    YCSO may charge illegal alien in death of his daughter

    http://sun.yumasun.com/artman/publish/a ... _22776.php

    YCSO may charge illegal alien in death of his daughter
    BY JEFFREY GAUTREAUX, SUN STAFF WRITER
    Mar 6, 2006

    Authorities are seeking to prosecute an illegal alien from Mexico who they say contributed to the death of his 12-year-old daughter Sunday night.

    Lourdes Cruz-Morales was killed when she and her father, Juan Cruz-Torralva, 26, were run over by a U.S. Border Patrol vehicle that they were trying to elude by hiding in brush, according to the Yuma County Sheriff's Office. The accident occurred at 7:40 p.m. in desert about 5-1/2 miles southwest of Milepost 78 on Interstate 8.

    YCSO Capt. Eben Bratcher said the agency wants charges brought against Cruz-Torralva because he brought his 12-year-old daughter on a 30-mile hike through the desert after illegally entering the United States.

    "He endangered her life there, but then he contributed to her death by hiding," Bratcher said. "He could have just stood up and avoided the whole thing."

    Bratcher said YCSO would be working to have charges of reckless manslaughter or endangerment filed against the father.

    Cruz-Morales was pronounced dead at the scene. Cruz-Torralva was flown to Yuma Regional Medical Center, where he was admitted with spinal injuries, YCSO said. He was in fair condition Monday at YRMC, according to a hospital spokeswoman.

    The father and daughter had crossed the border from Mexico, but Bratcher did not know where they were from in Mexico or when they crossed. He said Border Patrol agents from the Wellton station had been tracking a large group in the area, but he did not know if the two were part of it. Bratcher said agents apprehended some of the illegal aliens from that group.

    YCSO has interviewed the Border Patrol agents who were patrolling. Bratcher said investigators have found no sign of wrongdoing on the agents' part. "There's no reason to suspect anything else but an accident," he said.

    Investigators have spoken to Cruz-Torralva briefly, but not in depth, Bratcher said.

    Yuma sector Border Patrol spokesman Rick Hays said the Border Patrol was conducting an investigation of the incident and could not comment until it was completed.

    Bratcher said similar incidents where illegal aliens have been struck by Border Patrol vehicles have occurred in the past, but this is the first in recent memory.

    According to The Sun archives, in May 2000, an illegal alien from Mexicali was injured when he was run over near Sidewinder Road. The next month, a 16-year-old boy from Mexico was injured when he was struck near County 22nd Street and Avenue 1E.

    Cruz-Torralva is not in the custody of the Sheriff's Office. Bratcher expected that Border Patrol had placed a detainer on him.
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  2. #2
    Senior Member Brian503a's Avatar
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    http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/ ... 14-ON.html

    Jailed immigrant whose daughter was killed wants return to Mexico

    Associated Press
    Mar. 14, 2006 07:15 AM


    YUMA, Ariz. - 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 this week in a casket.

    Near the last leg of their three-day journey, a U.S. Border Patrol agent ran over Cruz-Torralva and Cruz-Morales 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 last Wednesday, where he remained through Monday.

    Cruz-Torralva, 28, spoke to The Associated Press through a glass partition in the jail Monday afternoon, shortly after the county attorney's office said they would not prosecute the case.

    "It is not enough to disapprove of the individual's actions," according to a report from the 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 limited Spanish.

    Cruz-Torralva often cried - not just for his daughter but for his whole situation.

    His back is broken and he can barely walk, his parents back in Mexico are ill and don't have jobs while he sits in jail on charges that he caused his only daughter's death.

    "I just wanted her to get a good education," said Cruz-Torralva of 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 was not going to be prosecuted and that soon he would be returned to Mexico by federal immigration officials.

    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 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 to his home.

    "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.

    Camarena said he is assessing whether to file a civil lawsuit against the Border Patrol for Cruz-Torralva's injuries and the wrongful death of Cruz-Morales.

    He said he plans to file a court order to see the site where Cruz-Morales died, obtain video and aerial photographs of the area and decide if the Border Patrol acted improperly.

    Richard Hays, a spokesman with the agency, 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 at this point, 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."
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  3. #3
    Senior Member moosetracks's Avatar
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    Say, can ranchers sue the illegals that are destroying their cattle and property?

    This could help a lot, if border residents would start suing them.
    Do not vote for Party this year, vote for America and American workers!

  4. #4
    Senior Member rebellady1964's Avatar
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    Oh, don't you know the pro-illegals will be turning this around on the BP, trying to make it look like it was their fault I can't believe the things these illegals will do to get across our borders
    "My ancestors gave their life for America, the least I can do is fight to preserve the rights they died for"

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