An undocumented immigrant has been charged with the death of 18-year-old Harry Helgeson following a drunk driving accident in Dane County, Wisconsin, which also left Helgeson’s boyfriend, 19-year-old Brady Haling, seriously injured.
Noelia A. Martinez, a 30-year-old undocumented immigrant with a prior record of drunk driving, has been arrested. She faces multiple charges including murder stemming from intentionally operating the vehicle while intoxicated, second-degree murder due to a high blood alcohol concentration, drunk driving, and driving with a revoked license.
On July 20th, Martinez is reported to have been driving under the influence when she struck Harry and Brady, who were in Brady’s Volkswagen Tiguan.
When first responders arrived, Harry was unresponsive and pronounced dead two hours later, while Brady was severely injured and required airlifting to a local hospital.
Harry’s Instagram shows that she and Brady had recently attended Senior Prom about 11 weeks prior to the tragic accident. In her last post, she shared a video montage of their time together, captioned “Our Three Years.”
In addition, responders found an open beer can in Martinez’s vehicle, and officers noted a strong smell of alcohol on her. She did not pass a field sobriety test, and her blood alcohol level at the time of the crash was recorded at 0.208%.
Initially, Martinez claimed that she was not drunk but later confessed to the police that she had consumed at least two Modelo beers.
Martinez, who has been living illegally in the U.S., was previously convicted in November 2020 for various traffic violations and had faced DUI charges.
At the time of the accident, she was required to have an ignition interlock device installed in her vehicle, which should have prevented her from starting the car if she had been drinking. Additionally, her driver’s license had already been revoked prior to the incident.
It’s unclear why she wasn’t reported to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after past offenses. She is currently being held on a $250,000 bond.
