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"Call me, brother." Cell phone messages to the driver of the 'death truck' reveal the last hours of the tragic trip

2022-07-01T17:03:51.187Z


An accomplice says the trailer driver didn't know the air conditioning had stopped working. He was high on methamphetamine. He now he can face death penalty.


An alleged accomplice in the coyote network stated that the driver of the truck in which at least 53 migrants died this Monday in San Antonio (Texas) due to high temperatures did not know that the trailer's air conditioning was not working, according to what was reported this Friday by the newspaper The Washington Post citing court documents.

Christian Martinez, 28, also detained in the tragedy, acknowledged his involvement in the transfer of the migrants, saying he knew the driver, and that the air conditioning had stopped working without the driver's knowledge, according to the documents.

Cell phone records of Homero Zamorano Jr., 45, accused of driving the truck, revealed messages he exchanged with Martinez the day the dead migrants were found.

The truck, in San Antonio, Texas, on June 27, 2022.Noticias Telemundo

Martinez sent a message Monday at 12:17 p.m. about the truck's manifest.

Half an hour later, he sent her the address of a place in Laredo, Texas.

At 1:40 in the afternoon he began to send him messages asking him where he was, but he did not receive a response, so during the following hours he continued to insist in an increasingly desperate way, all this according to the aforementioned newspaper, which cites one of those messages: "Call me, brother!"

His last message arrived at 6:15 in the afternoon, but by then the driver was hiding and trying to escape after leaving the truck abandoned, from which the authorities were already removing bodies and badly injured migrants.

According to two official sources cited by the newspaper, he was drugged with methamphetamine.

Zamorano Jr., 45, appeared Thursday before a federal court in San Antonio.

During the hearing, which lasted about five minutes, the man said very little, limiting himself to answering yes or no to questions from federal judge Elizabeth Chestney about his rights and the charges against him.

[“It is very favorable”: this implies the judicial decision that favors the end of 'Stay in Mexico']

The judge appointed two public defenders for him because the charge he faces carries a possible death sentence.

The next hearing, to determine whether he can be released on bail, was scheduled for next week.

The driver's sister recognized exclusively for Noticias Telemundo that the incident represented "a double devastation."

"One, as a family of migrants, always hopes that they arrive well, that they are well and that they get ahead," he said.

"It is very sad.

I am so sorry that [family members] are going through this,” she noted.

The brothers Juan Franciso D'Luna-Bilbao and Juan Claudio D'Luna-Méndez, also detained for the tragedy, were due to appear in court this Friday but were exempted from that procedure, according to Telemundo News.

Both are Mexican and are accused of having several weapons despite being undocumented.

They face up to ten years in prison.

"They told me to prepare to receive the body": Mexican mother searches for her son among the victims of the Texas truck

June 30, 202206:46

On its route, the truck passed a Border Patrol checkpoint in Texas without difficulty, according to an officer quoted by The Associated Press, which has reconstructed its route.

The vehicle passed the checkpoint located on Interstate 35, about 26 miles northeast of the border city of Laredo, Texas.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity about the ongoing investigation, said 73 people were inside the truck when it was discovered Monday in San Antonio.

At least 53 of them have died and there are a dozen injured.

For now it is unknown if the border agents stopped the vehicle or if it passed the checkpoint without being intercepted.

[“I'm so sorry”: the sister of the man accused of driving the 'death truck' is doubly devastated]

It is still unknown how long the migrants were in the truck's trailer in stifling conditions and whether the fact that the traffickers confiscated their cell phones before putting them inside contributed to the high number of deaths, since there were no emergency calls as in events previous.

Honduran mother came seeking treatment for lupus and died in the 'death truck'

July 1, 202201:29

The Supreme Court ruled in 1976 that Border Patrol agents can stop vehicles at interior checkpoints for brief questioning without a warrant, even if there is no reason to believe they are moving people illegally.

However, this practice has angered immigration and civil liberties advocates, who believe the checkpoints lend themselves to racist discrimination and abuse of authority.

Some drivers post videos on social media accusing officers of using excessive force and inappropriate interrogations.

The Laredo-area checkpoint is on one of the border's busiest highways, especially for trucks, raising the possibility of choking off commerce and creating havoc if all motorists are stopped and questioned.

The governor, Greg Abbott, announced this week that he will activate his own checkpoints for trucks in interior areas, considering the efforts of the Joe Biden administration to stop the trafficking of immigrants and drugs at the border insufficient.

Source: telemundo

All news articles on 2022-07-01

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