A Honduran national who only served four years for a deadly Tennessee drunk driving crash is in federal custody and headed out of the country.
U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement arrested Kelvin Mejia-Romero, from Honduras, upon his release from the Northwest Correctional Complex near Memphis on April 20.
Mejia-Romero, who told police he had been drinking, killed a Nashville musician in a wrong-way collision on New Year’s Day in 2022. Mejia-Romero had two prior DUI convictions.
In 2022, he was convicted of vehicular homicide and sentenced to six years in prison.
Mejia-Romero was released to ICE following his sentence for the DUI crash. He will remain in ICE custody pending removal.
Kelvin Joel Mejia-Romero, of Honduras, convicted of killing 66-year-old Nashville musician Samuel Dismuke Sr. by driving the wrong way on I-24 in 2022 after consuming eight or nine beers.
ICE arrested him at the Northwest Correctional Complex in Lake County, Tenn., upon his… pic.twitter.com/esh8f4ypkN
— U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (@ICEgov) May 29, 2026
“We’re taking these public safety threats off the streets and out of jails every day,” said acting ERO New Orleans Field Office Director Brian Acuna. “ICE will hold those who victimize our community accountable by enforcing our nation’s immigration laws.”
Based on local reports, Mejia-Romero was traveling east in the westbound lanes of Interstate 24 in Nashville around 2:45 a.m. Jan. 1, 2022.
His 2015 Nissan Rogue collided with a 2001 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck driven by 66-year-old Samuel Dimsuke Sr. of Nashville. Dismuke died at the scene and two others were injured.
Police said Mejia-Romero told authorities he had consumed eight or nine beers before driving and showed signs of impairment.
Records show Mejia-Romero’s most recent entry into the United States was in 2014. At the time, he had an approved travel authorization, ICE officials said.
Mejia-Romero applied for several U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services authorizations in 2017 and 2018. USCIS denied his applications. Mejia-Romero remained in the United States unlawfully.
Mejia-Romero was charged with vehicular homicide following the crash, but despite having two prior DUI convictions, he only received a six-year sentence.
He also had an immigration hold placed against him after his arrest for the 2022 crash. It’s unclear why he was never deported after the first two DUI convictions.
Following the crash, the victim’s family told local media the longtime musician was on his way home after playing with his band.
“It was heartbreaking, devastating, just hard news to get,” Samuel Dismuke Jr. told local outlet WKRN. “It was my father this time, but it very well could be next time, you injure somebody from your own family, you never know.”
Dimsuke’s son also urged lawmakers and those in the justice system to crack down on repeat DUI offenders.
“This was his third time. I feel like, after the second time, we probably shouldn’t have seen him,” he said. “He shouldn’t have been able to be out for that accident to even happen.”
News of deadly DUI crashes by illegal immigrants continue to make headlines across the country, including a quadruple fatality that occurred on an Oklahoma highway on May 22.
Unfortunately, innocent Americans continue to pay the price for lenient policies that allow DUI offenders to get back on the roads.
“The Trump administration is committed to restoring common sense and sanity to our nation’s immigration system,” ICE officials said in announcing Mejia-Romero’s arrest.
“Under President Donald J. Trump and Secretary Markwayne Mullin, the Department of Homeland Security will not gamble with the safety of Americans and our national security — as previous administrations have done — by allowing murderers, child rapists, gang members and other dangerous criminal illegal aliens to remain in our communities unvetted and unchecked.”
The Trump Administration relaunched the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement Office (VOICE) to serve as a resource for victims and their families, providing direct access to alien custody information, victim services and local support services.
There have been countless families left reeling following the death of a loved one killed by illegal immigrant drivers who are unlicensed, uninsured and often driving drunk, or have obtained a commercial driver’s license and are driving 18-wheelers.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security highlighted angel moms on Mother’s Day, including Maureen Maloney, who spoke about her son, 23-year-old Matthew Denice. He was killed by a drunk driving illegal alien on Aug. 20, 2011, in the sanctuary state of Massachusetts.
“Everyone loved him. He was the kind of guy that would go to parties, pick people up and drop them back off at home,” Maloney said. “People always say ‘the happiest day of my life was…’ but I’ll never get to say that ever again in life, since the moment my son was taken from me.”
Now, four more families in Oklahoma are facing the same heartbreak after an illegal immigrant driver, Michael Salomon Rosario-Cruz, 26, from Mexico, entered the interstate going the wrong way and killed four young people.
Rosario-Cruz, who is also suspected of driving drunk, was driving the wrong way on I-40 in Canadian County, Oklahoma. He crashed head-on into a car with four occupants, ages 18 to 20, and they died after their car caught on fire. Three were recent high school graduates who attended the same school.
Rosario-Cruz lives in Memphis, Tennessee, but was working in Oklahoma for a utility contracting company when the crash occurred. He was also driving with empty beer bottles and a firearm in his vehicle, authorities said.
