An illegal immigrant with multiple run-ins with the law who was ordered deported six years ago is accused of killing a young Virginia college student in a horrific car crash. According to local reports.
Honduran national Elvis Jamil Cruz Ferrera, 18, has been charged with manslaughter in connection with the February death of an Old Dominion University student. Lauryn Nicole LeonardAccording to the Virginian-Pilot, he was 19 years old.
“She was absolutely one of a kind,” said Leonard’s brother, Eric Hargrove, 31. “She was a loving person. Friendly, outgoing, beautiful inside and out.”
According to the outlet, on the night Leonard died, she was driving a gray 2000 Toyota Solara back to her Norfolk apartment on Interstate 664 in Chesapeake around 6 p.m. when Cruz-Ferrara struck her, causing both drivers to lose control and crash into a guardrail.
Leonard died immediately after the crash, but Cruz-Ferrara’s red 2008 Pontiac Vibe, despite being rolled over, survived the accident and was treated for minor injuries at a local hospital.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), an immigration judge ordered Cruz Ferrera deported in 2018 at a hearing he did not attend after he crossed the border illegally.
Local media said Cruz-Ferrera had had several run-ins with police over traffic violations in the months leading up to the crash, but authorities did not investigate his immigration status at the time.
Last November, Cruz Ferrera was arrested for reckless driving, going 85 mph in a 60 mph speed zone near the scene of a fatal crash.
He was also charged twice with driving without a license.
Hargrove said his sister might still be alive if Cruz-Ferrera had been deported.
“I just think it’s crazy,” Hargrove said. “Why didn’t anybody check in? … She was just minding her own business and then you came out of nowhere and turned my life upside down.”
“I don’t want to sound like I’m from the far right or the far left,” he said, “but I would just say that if the deportations had gone ahead as scheduled, this might not have happened.”
Cruz-Ferrera is in immigration custody and is being held without bail. He faces up to 10 years in prison.
Cruz Ferrera was 11 years old when he crossed the southern border into McAllen, Texas, in October 2016.
After being processed by the Border Patrol, he was transported to an ICE facility in San Antonio where he was held for a short time before being given a court date and released.
Cruz-Ferrera had lived in the Virginia area for the past four years with her mother and siblings and had completed school through the 11th grade. She had worked at a local Wendy’s for a month prior to the accident.
Hours before Leonard was killed, she had texted her family about a job she had just gotten, conducting freshman orientation on campus.
“She had the talent,” Hargrove said. “That would have been good.”
