Thread: Killed by a hit-and-run driver | Gabriel Rosas Vargas 2-year-old

Gabriel Rosas-Varga (2) was killed by a hit-and-run driver high on Cocaine/Pot

https://mydeathspace.com/vb/showthre...on-Cocaine-Pot

WOODBURN, Ore. -- Records indicate that a man charged with killing a Woodburn toddler in a hit-and-run on Monday had a federal immigration hold and agents suspect he is in the country illegally.

Victor Garcia-Hernandez, 23, was arrested Monday night for killing 2-year-old Gabriel Rosas-Vargas. An eyewitness who saw the hit-and-run told KGW Garcia-Hernandez hit the boy, got out of the car, looked at him, made a phone call and then left the scene.

Video: Suspect in court

Witness describes scene, suspect in court

Surveillance video: Boy runs into street

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, has fueled the speculation that Garcia-Hernadez is in the country illegally by admitting that he should have been expelled during a prior arrest on DUI charges.

According to ICE, Marion County Sheriff's deputies faxed information to customs officials back in April 2008, notifying them that a possible illegal alien was in custody on DUI charges.

The fax was reportedly sent at 2 a.m., though, and federal agents weren't in the office overnight. By morning, Garcia-Hernandez was released from jail.

Less than a year later, Garcia-Hernandez is back in jail, this time on charges that he killed the young boy. Deputies said additional charges were likely.

The child ran into a Woodburn street Monday afternoon and was struck by Garcia-Hernadez's pickup, according to police.

Eyewitness details hit-and-run to KGW

In an exclusive interview with KGW, Lisa Itel said she saw everything.

"I actually saw a toddler come out to the crosswalk and thought to myself, 'that's weird a toddler's out in the crosswalk'... After I passed through the intersection, he [the suspected hit-and-run driver] made the left hand turn," Itel said.

What she saw next horrified her -- she saw the toddler get stuck under the front bumper of the pickup truck. After that, Itel said she pulled into the middle of the street and waved down the driver.

In a probable cause statement obtained by KGW, Itel confirmed to police that she saw Hernandez hit the child. Itel told the court the driver got out of his vehicle and approached the toddler, who was lying in the street.

Hernandez, "stood there for a while, talked on his cell phone and then got in his car and left the area," she said.

The witness statement contradicted claims by Hernandez that he did not know he'd hit the child.

The toddler was with his family at a store near the intersection of Front and Harrison streets around 4 p.m. Monday when he ran into the street and was hit by a white GMC truck, which drove away from the scene after the impact, according to police reports.

The child died at the scene.

Suspect was under influence of cocaine, marijuana

Prosecutors say Hernandez was under the influence of cocaine and marijuana at the time of the incident, and that Hernandez had used cocaine on Sunday night. They also said he had been stopped twice before for driving under the influence of illicit substances. He was charged with DUI on New Year's Day 2006, when he was 21, but was released after a 2008 traffic stop. No charges were filed after the second stop.

The defendant's license was suspended after the 2006 arrest and then reinstated May 1 of that year. He entered a guilty plea and also completed a year-long diversion program that included alcohol treatment.

Hernandez was being held on a $500,000 bail.

A Woodburn mother said the accident was terrifying.

"It brought tears to my eyes. I have four little boys and I don't know what I would do, at all. It's just very sad," Amy Madrigal said.

Madrigal didn't know the 2-year-old victim but said she felt compelled to do something to pull the community together after this tragedy. She placed flowers at the roadside with the help of her young son.

Hernandez's truck was later found on Highway 99E near Industrial Avenue in Hubbard