Two Mexican illegal immigrants were booked into jail on several charges and immigration holds after a head-on collision killed a father and injured his 3-year-old daughter in Texas.
The driver who allegedly caused the crash, 25-year-old Rafael Alejandro Arreguin-Ramirez, was suspected of being drunk. His passenger, 23-year-old Alejandro Aguillen-Acosta, had illegally reentered the country for the third time.
The deadly crash occurred around 7 p.m. Sept. 12 in New Braunfels, Texas, killing 27-year-old Alex “Bubba” Nunez and injuring his 3-year-old daughter.
Police arrested Arreguin-Ramirez and charged him with intoxication manslaughter and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
The New Braunfels Police Department shared news of the crash on Facebook and said Arreguin-Ramirez showed signs of being intoxicated at the time of the crash.
Investigators determined he was behind the wheel of the pickup truck that hit Nunez’s car head-on.
Nunez died at the scene. His daughter sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to a local hospital.
Police also said the pickup’s passenger, Aguillen-Acosta, fled on foot into a nearby neighborhood after the crash, News 4 in San Antonio reported.
Aguillen-Acosta was arrested and charged with evading arrest and criminal trespass after police found him hiding in a nearby garage.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement lodged immigration detainers for both suspects with the Guadalupe County Jail the day after they were arrested.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Arreguin-Ramirez illegally entered the United States at an unknown date and location.
Aguillen-Acosta first illegally entered the United States through Texas in March 2023 and was granted a voluntary return to Mexico. He then illegally re-entered the country through New Mexico in January 2025 and was deported that same month.
He illegally entered the country for a third time, which is a felony, at an unknown date and location.
“Alex Nunez should still be alive today because this tragedy was completely preventable,” DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said. “ICE has lodged detainers asking our partners in Texas to cooperate with us so that these criminals can be removed from our country after they face justice. My thoughts and prayers are with Alex Nunez’s family, as well as for the child’s speedy recovery.”
News of Nunez’s sudden death left family and friends shocked. Nunez’s best friend’s family owns a local bakery, Cake Bar New Braunfels, and organized a cake fundraiser to raise money for his grieving family.
FOX San Antonio spoke to one of the owners, Kasandra De La Cruz, who said Nunez frequently stopped in the store with her brother.
“He made everybody laugh, everybody smile,” De La Cruz told FOX San Antonio. “He was always in the back chuckling or something… whenever we found out that it was him, it did hit us pretty hard.”
The family also started a GoFundMe to raise money for funeral expenses.
“Alex’s unexpected passing has left the entire family heartbroken and trying to make sense of an unimaginable loss,” the family wrote. “Alex will never be forgotten and will be forever loved and forever missed.”
