Last year, illegal immigrant Juan Castillo Reyes was speeding down I-20, ignoring posted signs warning drivers to slow down.
Staff Sergeant Alexander Earles, an airman stationed at Fort Gordon, was at a standstill with three other cars at the same time.
Driving a Ford F-250 with a trailer in tow, Reyes was unable to control his vehicle’s momentum at those high speeds and slammed into the airman’s Nissan Altima as well as two other cars.
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If you’re someone who has driven a heavy truck hauling a trailer, then you know that you’re one of the deadliest things on the road. While driving, you weigh much more than other cars on the road, and therefore take much longer to slow down and stop.
Danger and death can be avoided by driving slow and paying attention, something Reyes failed to do.
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Hit with a multitude of charges including homicide by vehicle in the second degree, Reyes was handed his punishment Monday.
So what did this man wrongly in the country, breaking our laws, get for killing a 6-year Air Force airman?
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For the death of Alexander Earles, Reyes was given FIVE YEARS.
That’s right. Reyes will spend less time behind bars than Earles served his country with honor and pride.
Now- We’re not against immigration. America is a shining beacon that attracts the world’s finest artisans, scientists, families and laborers. But there’s a process in place. It may not let you in the day after you apply, but the door to the United States is open to any and all.
Reyes ignored that door, and chose to take the easy way in. Illegally.
During the trial, his lawyer portrayed him as hard-working, someone who came to this country for a better life. What he did instead is rob somebody else of his.
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“I didn’t mean to do this,” Reyes said. “I know your pain because my family is going through it too.”
The Reyes family will not see Juan for five years. The family of Alexander Earles will never see him again on this earth. This isn’t the same pain by any stretch of the imagination.
Patrick Earles, Alexander’s dad, was unbelievably gracious, saying “the defendant didn’t intentionally kill my son but he took something very substantial, it cannot be replaced, we cannot be compensated for it.”
For most of us, it’s impossible to imagine what Patrick Earles is going through.
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Alexander Earles might still be alive if Reyes respected our country and our laws. If he was so intent on coming here for a better life, he didn’t show it by his disregard for even the most basic of laws: speed limits.
Juan Castillo Reyes, an illegal immigrant, may be deported by ICE after his extremely short prison stint.
Reyes is eligible for parole after only one year.
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