An illegal immigrant accused of killing three Floridians in a drunk driving car crash was deported this month, but the families of his alleged victims are upset that he didn't receive justice.
Erwin Rommel Recinos Zuniga, 28, had been under house arrest and had been extradited to Honduras on Sept. 6 for the 2022 crash in West Flagler that killed Paola Sabillon, her boyfriend Jason Mesa and his cousin, Giselle Reyes.
“He was deported. He is alive. He is sleeping. He is with his family. My sister stopped growing at 19,” said Miriam Castillo, Paola Sabillon's sister. He told NBC Miami.
“I've lost what little faith I had in the justice system,” her sister, Jaylene Najera, added.
Records show Zuniga “violated the rules and regulations of the Office of Supervised Release/House Arrest Program” before he was arrested on immigration charges, the department reported.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed to The Washington Post that Zuniga was a Honduran national who was in the country illegally and was deported on September 6th.
At the time of his deportation, he was facing numerous charges in the 2022 crash, including three counts of drunk driving manslaughter and three counts of reckless driving causing death.
Prosecutors said the defendant was traveling 126 mph in a 40 mph speed zone when he lost control of his car and crashed into a gas station sign.
Police said Zuniga had a blood alcohol content of 0.123 and had THC in his system.
Witnesses said Zuniga had drunk five or six glasses of whiskey before getting behind the wheel and taking four others to a nearby club. Three of the men — Sabillon, Mesa and Reyes — were killed and a fourth passenger was seriously injured.
Prosecutors claim that they and the victims' families were not informed that Zuniga had been deported until after he had already died.
“This deportation, which deprived the victim's family of justice, could have been avoided if those overseeing his community probation had notified the court and the State's Attorney's Office of their intent to release him,” State's Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle told NBC 6. “No such notice was given.”
“The families of the young victims and the residents of Miami-Dade County understandably feel misled by this government failure.”
It's unclear what next steps will be taken, but Rundle said his office plans to work with federal authorities to bring Zuniga back to Miami to stand trial.
Neither the Miami-Dade County Public Defender's Office nor the Miami-Dade County Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which oversees the house arrest program, responded to requests for comment.
