HOUSTON, Texas — Houston police say that a twice-deported illegal immigrant from Guatemala killed a teenage girl and injured her father and sister after he crashed into them while under the influence of drugs.
Police officers arrested 27-year-old Edy Lopez-Hernandez, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala, after he allegedly crashed his car into another, causing the death of 17-year-old Britney Baez. Investigators said Lopez-Hernandez did not hit his brakes before, hitting the victim’s car at 70 miles per hour. The crash also injured Britney’s sister Nicole and critically injured her father, KTRK ABC13 reported.
Court records obtained by Breitbart Texas reveal that Lopez-Hernandez attempted to flee the scene. He dragged his two-year-old son out of the car in the process. Witnesses to the crash stopped him a couple blocks away as he attempted to run down the street, Click2Houston reported. The suspect was reported to be under the influence of drugs.
Nicole Baez said the last thing she remembered was “sitting down on the sidewalk, my mom was still screaming my sister’s name. I can hear my dad asking for water. I could sort of see people around me, that’s when my arm started killing me,” she told the reporter. Nicole suffered an arm fracture. She was sitting next to Britney when the car smashed into them.
She said her family was on the way to a Sunday movie night when they stopped at a red light at Westpark and Dunvale (southwest Houston) when the Mustang driven by Lopez-Hernandez crashed into them.
Lopez-Hernandez now faces charges of murder, two counts of intoxicated assault, and failure to stop and render aid following a crash with serious bodily injury, court records obtained from Harris County District Clerk Chris Daniel’s office. He also has a prior conviction for possession of marijuana from a 2010 case.
KTRK ABC 13 reported that Lopez-Hernandez also has an immigration record that includes two previous deportations. If charged and convicted by federal authorities under aggravated re-entry after removal laws, the Guatemalan could face an additional 20 years in prison on top of the state charges.
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX, GAB, and Facebook.