Illegal immigrant charged in fatal DUI crash that killed Colorado mother, son was deported 4 times, sentenced to probation only days prior

It has been revealed that the illegal immigrant who allegedly killed a mother and her son during a car crash that involved alcohol in Broomfield, Colorado has been deported four times, but always eventually managed to find his way back into the United States.

El Salvadoran native Jose Guadalupe Menjivar-Alas, 37, has racked up numerous drunk driving-related charges in Colorado since 2007, and had been sentenced just days before the accident.

According to Fox News, the incident took place on December 12, 2023 on Main Street and Miramonte Boulevard in Broomfield, a town about 19 miles northwest of Denver.

Menjivar-Alas was behind the wheel of a Toyota Tundra when he crashed into a Mazda CX-5 that was driven by 47-year-old Melissa Powell. She, and her 16-year-old son Riordan, who was in the back seat, were both killed as a result of the accident.

The El Salvadoran was also injured during the crash, and transported to a nearby hospital. Three days later, however, he was arrested and charged with vehicular homicide from reckless driving, vehicular homicide caused by DUI, and habitual traffic offender.

Police noted that both alcohol and excessive speeding likely played a role in the crash.

As Fox News reports, this is far from the first time Menjivar-Alas has been arrested for alcohol-related offenses. He was first convicted of DWI and driving with alcohol in August 2007, two years before a judge first ordered his removal from the United States. 

In December 2016, following three subsequent deportation orders in 2013, 2014, and 2015, Menjivar-Alas was charged with DWI again. He was hit with the same charge yet again in May 2019. Each time, the judge put him on probation, which he repeatedly violated.

Just four days before the crash, CBS News reports, Menjivar-Alas was sentenced by a Boulder County judge for his prior offenses to probation, community service, and work, and allowed to walk out of the court house.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement filed an immigration detainer against Menjivar-Alas in Broomfield County on December 18.

"As part of its routine operations," the agency wrote, "ICE targets and arrests noncitizens who commit crimes and other individuals who have violated our nation’s immigration laws. All noncitizens in violation of U.S. immigration law may be subject to arrest, detention and, if found removable by final order, removed from the United States, regardless of nationality."