Illegal alien sentenced to less than two years for hit and run death of toddler

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A few days ago, Marion County Circuit Judge Gale M. Reider sentenced Juan Lopez-Perez, 31, to 17 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of to failing to perform the duties of a driver in a crash.

On the evening of November 24, Lopez-Perez hit 2-year-old Erika Rubi Meza with his pick up truck, as she walked with her older sister through the parking lot in front of their apartment house in Salem, OR.

The Mexican national immediately fled the scene and was arrested early the next morning, Salem police charged him with felony hit and run. Witnesses say Lopez-Perez was speeding through the apartment complex.

Maggie Tarsia, was walking her dog and saw Lopez-Perez speed past, with tires squealing, and called 911. She told the Statesman Journal: “It was flying. I'd say about 45 mph."

The little girl’s injuries were so severe that she died in the parking lot.

Before his client was sentenced, defense attorney Steven Walls explained to the judge that Lopez-Perez ran from the scene without calling for help because he feared the gathering crowd.

The girl’s mother Martha Meza, who speaks only Spanish told Salem’s KOIN local 6 news through an interpreter: "She was really special. She was really special to her and to other people. If it was an accident, why didn't he stop to help the little girl? She wants him to pay for what he did."

 

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