Mexican tourist killed by truck after ICE encounter in Florida
Officials and an advocacy group say Juan Jairo Coronilla Durán had a tourist visa and was vacationing when he died in St. Augustine.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
3 min read
A 28-year-old Mexican man killed by a tractor trailer in Florida after running from federal immigration officers was visiting the United States on vacation and had a tourist visa, according to a Mexican official and an advocacy group assisting his wife.
Juan Jairo Coronilla Durán died July 14 in St. Augustine after authorities said he ran across a busy road and into the path of a semi truck. U.S. authorities have not publicly named him, but a Mexican official confirmed his identity.
Isaret Jeffers, founder of Colectivo Arbol, a farmworker advocacy group, said Coronilla Durán had traveled from San Luis de la Paz in Guanajuato, Mexico, to Atlanta to see family and friends. Jeffers said he spent three weeks in Georgia before going to Florida’s east coast for the beaches.
Jeffers said Coronilla Durán’s wife, Yezzika Alamilla, told the group that he was in the country on a tourist visa. Susana Guerra Vallejo, Guanajuato’s undersecretary for assistance to migrants and mobility issues, also said that, based on information from the widow, Coronilla Durán had been in the U.S. only briefly and had a tourist visa.
What authorities say happened
The Florida Highway Patrol said Coronilla Durán was one of four people in a vehicle that pulled into a gas station parking lot before 7 a.m. the day he died. The agency said the four ran during an encounter with agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations.
One person ran across the road and was hit by the truck, according to the Highway Patrol. CBS News reported that the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond Tuesday to a request for comment on whether Coronilla Durán had a valid visa.
Authorities have not said what led to the encounter at the gas station. They also have not said what happened to the three other people who were in the vehicle. The Highway Patrol and DHS have cited the continuing investigation in declining to provide more details.
Widow sought help after death
Jeffers said Alamilla contacted Colectivo Arbol the day after her husband died, looking for help traveling from Mexico and bringing his remains home. The group bought her a plane ticket and housed her for three days, until Monday, Jeffers said. The Mexican consulate has since been assisting her.
According to Jeffers, Alamilla did not understand why her husband would have been caught up in the encounter. Jeffers said the widow believed Coronilla Durán was frightened and ran because of that fear.
Guerra Vallejo said Alamilla would be able to see her husband’s body at a Florida funeral home. She told The Associated Press that Coronilla Durán’s remains will be flown to Mexico on a commercial flight from Orlando.
Coronilla Durán will be buried in San Luis de la Paz, a farming community in Guanajuato about 160 miles northwest of Mexico City, Guerra Vallejo said. Jeffers said he and Alamilla had two children, a 7-month-old daughter and a 7-year-old son.
His death came during a deadly stretch involving immigration enforcement. CBS News reported it was the third death in about a week tied to encounters with ICE agents, after fatal shootings in Texas and Maine.
CBS News also reported that Coronilla Durán’s death was at least the 10th involving encounters with immigration agents since President Trump began his mass deportation campaign last year. The Mexican government has said it asked state attorneys general in the U.S. to review deaths of migrants in ICE custody or during raids for possible criminal prosecution.
This story draws on original reporting from CBS News.