Hundreds of relatives and friends gathered Saturday to mourn Maria Pleitez and her 11-year-old daughter, who were killed in a car crash in New Jersey by an illegal immigrant.
The driver who caused the fatal accident, Raul Luna-Perez, has a rap sheet that includes arrests for domestic violence and two previous DUIs in the state.
Over 150 mourners attended the wake for the mother and daughter, Dayanara Cortes, at the Lakewood Funeral Home in Howell, The New York Post reported. Cortes’ father and his late daughter’s 11-year-old friend, who was injured in the July 26 crash but survived, were among the mourners.
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Many of the bereaved wore T-shirts with photos of the mother and daughter printed on them. One mourner leaned over Pleitez’s casket, crying, “porque (why)?”
Luna-Perez has been charged with two counts of vehicular homicide and assault, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced.
Though it’s known that Luna-Perez entered the country illegally from Mexico, the date of his entry isn’t known, DHS said. Following his arrest for homicide, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued an arrest detainer and initiated removal proceedings on July 28, a few days after the crash.
On July 26, officers from the Lakewood Township Police Department responded around 11:20 p.m. to a report of a vehicle crash. A subsequent investigation revealed that Luna-Perez was driving a Dodge Durango when he crossed into an oncoming lane of traffic and slammed into Pleitez’s Nissan Sentra, according to local prosecutors.
Pleitez was pronounced dead at the scene, but her daughter, who was seated in the front passenger seat at the time of the crash, was transported to Monmouth Medical Center Southern Campus in Lakewood. Cortes later succumbed to her injuries at the hospital and died, while her friend, who was seated in the rear of the vehicle, survived after being transported to Monmouth Medical Center.
Two passengers in Luna-Perez’s vehicle were transported to Jersey Shore University Medical Center and subsequently released.
According to first responders on the scene, Luna-Perez showed signs of impairment. After he was transported to Jersey Shore University Medical Center, a sample of his blood was drawn following a court-authorized warrant. He was then taken into custody and transported to the Ocean County Jail to await a detention hearing.
In its statement released Saturday, the DHS pointed to Luna-Perez’s rap sheet, which includes his two DUI arrests in March and April, and one arrest in June 2023 for “simple domestic violence.”
“Governor Murphy and his sanctuary policies released this serial criminal into New Jersey communities,” Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary for public affairs at the DHS, said in the statement. “Now, this innocent family is shattered by their failed leadership.
“President Trump and Secretary Noem will continue to do everything in their power to remove these criminal illegal aliens before they destroy more lives,” she added.
The office of New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy did not respond to The Christian Post’s request for comment.
Following President Donald Trump’s return to office in January, his administration has taken steps to crack down on illegal immigration.
In April, Trump declared on Truth Social that his administration was “working on papers to withhold all federal funding” from any city or state that allows sanctuary cities. The president referred to sanctuary cities as “death traps” that “protect the criminals, not the victims.”
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
