Child in Summerdale crash dies; Honduran national now faces manslaughter charge
SUMMERDALE, Ala. (WKRG) — Alongside County Road 28 in Summerdale, you’ll find a memorial and birthday wishes for a little girl lost.
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Instead of a party, a family is now planning a funeral after the 6-year-old died from injuries in a rollover crash early Monday morning.
Her birthday is Saturday, July 13.
She would have turned 7.
“He lost control of the vehicle, struck a fence, and there was a rollover event,” says Baldwin County Chief Assistant District Attorney Teresa Heinz. “Prior to that rollover event, the child was ejected and the vehicle landed on the child.”
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Zelvin Gomez, 25, drove the 2003 GMC Yukon that crashed.
Originally charged with assault, those charges have now been upgraded to manslaughter.
Prosecutors say his blood alcohol level was almost three times the legal limit hours after the crash.
“He admitted to being at a party where alcohol was consumed. He admitted to being ‘buzzed’ and blacking out, not remembering the actual events of the crash itself,” says Heinz.
Gomez was back in court for the second time in less than 48 hours Wednesday, appearing on a video monitor before District Judge William Scully for a bond hearing.
Speaking through a translator, he told the court he was a roofer and lived in Summerdale with his wife and children.
Originally from Honduras, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security confirmed he is in the country illegally and has been since at least 2019. There is now an immigration hold on him for deportation.
Heinz hopes a $200,000 bond is enough to keep him in Baldwin County long enough to face the upgraded charges.
“I don’t want him to make bond because I don’t want him getting deported without getting my opportunity to prosecute him here for the crimes that he committed,” she said.
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Crimes, investigators say, that have now changed a family forever.
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